Churchill was the best speaker and an excellent writer, but he was primarily a statesman. He gave a speech in Rome in 1925 in praise of Mussolini and early Fascism (to be fair that morphed as any ideology does) and ‘Totalitarianism’ (at that time a ‘good’ word used to imply all people and groups in society were consulted in decision ~how words change!). Anybody interested in war should read Churchill’s ‘My Early Life’. Very exciting stuff, it moves as he did around the world following the war of the moment ~not just British wars like the Boer War (and the first concentration camps) and Afghanistan-Pakistan (an early one) but also in the Philippines with American troops putting down a native rebellion. He never flinched from tough action and saw things in terms of black and white. For example: British troops are ambushed on the North-West Frontier ~almost a year later they are avenged, and a whole valley is burnt as punishment. Churchill acted in much the same way with Ireland and what he called the ‘fuzzy-wuzzies’. His philosophy was defeat totally, then when the enemy is helpless, help him and thereby gain an ally. (ie. burn his crops, then feed him and make him dependent on you). It was pretty much usual thinking at the time. It’s pretty hard to think of Churchill as anything other than ‘hard but fair’. A great man because he was needed in his time. A master of the English language, who deliberately used one syllable Anglo-Saxon words rather than introduced words of French origin. It was a great surprise when Churchill, thought in England to have won WW2, was rejected by the British public in 1945, when a Labour government won on policies of a welfare state that Churchill opposed. A man of his times, yes. A master of the English language: the citation here might be compared with his speech every school boy learnt by heart in England: “We will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them on the streets….we will NEVER surrender.”
He definitely had a way with words, and he was admired for it (among his other qualities). About a decade ago, there was a poll that asked people to rank the “100 greatest Britons.” Churchill came in first, ahead of Darwin, Newton, Shakespeare, and both Queen Elizabeths. All the Beatles made the list too, except for Ringo. Drummers don’t sing very much.
Patrick F. Clarkin, Ph.D. 
Churchill was the best speaker and an excellent writer, but he was primarily a statesman. He gave a speech in Rome in 1925 in praise of Mussolini and early Fascism (to be fair that morphed as any ideology does) and ‘Totalitarianism’ (at that time a ‘good’ word used to imply all people and groups in society were consulted in decision ~how words change!). Anybody interested in war should read Churchill’s ‘My Early Life’. Very exciting stuff, it moves as he did around the world following the war of the moment ~not just British wars like the Boer War (and the first concentration camps) and Afghanistan-Pakistan (an early one) but also in the Philippines with American troops putting down a native rebellion. He never flinched from tough action and saw things in terms of black and white. For example: British troops are ambushed on the North-West Frontier ~almost a year later they are avenged, and a whole valley is burnt as punishment. Churchill acted in much the same way with Ireland and what he called the ‘fuzzy-wuzzies’. His philosophy was defeat totally, then when the enemy is helpless, help him and thereby gain an ally. (ie. burn his crops, then feed him and make him dependent on you). It was pretty much usual thinking at the time. It’s pretty hard to think of Churchill as anything other than ‘hard but fair’. A great man because he was needed in his time. A master of the English language, who deliberately used one syllable Anglo-Saxon words rather than introduced words of French origin. It was a great surprise when Churchill, thought in England to have won WW2, was rejected by the British public in 1945, when a Labour government won on policies of a welfare state that Churchill opposed. A man of his times, yes. A master of the English language: the citation here might be compared with his speech every school boy learnt by heart in England: “We will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them on the streets….we will NEVER surrender.”
He definitely had a way with words, and he was admired for it (among his other qualities). About a decade ago, there was a poll that asked people to rank the “100 greatest Britons.” Churchill came in first, ahead of Darwin, Newton, Shakespeare, and both Queen Elizabeths. All the Beatles made the list too, except for Ringo. Drummers don’t sing very much.
http://alchemipedia.blogspot.com/2009/12/100-greatest-britons-bbc-poll-2002.html