Winston Churchill

Sir Martin Gilbert delivered this speech at Hillsdale's campus on September 10, 2001 as part of a CCA seminar titled "One of Freedom’s Finest Hours: Statesmanship and Soldiership in World War II"

Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill, speaks at Hillsdale College on September 7, 2006 as part of the Distinguished Fellow Lecture Series.

Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill, speaks at Hillsdale College on September 22, 2005 as part of the Distinguished Fellow Lecture Series.

Will Morrisey Professor of Politics, Hillsdale College March 20, 2015 Despite years of talk about modern globalization and world-shrinking information technology, Americans now find themselves confronted on all sides with age-old questions of geopolitics and regime rivalries—questions that our national leaders seem noticeably unfit to answer. As today’s world erupts in wars for cultural and territorial control, much can be learned from two of yesterday’s masters of statecraft: Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Both understood how to coordinate geopolitics—the realm of necessity—with the defense of liberty, and their examples can teach us what to consider as we defend our way of life in a world hostile to political freedom. Will Morrisey holds the William and Patricia LaMothe Chair in the American Constitution at Hillsdale College. He is the author of several books, including The Dilemma of Progressivism: How Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson Reshaped the American Regime of Self-Govern

Churchill’s career as a writer straddles even his six decades as a statesman. He began writing as a schoolboy and published The Island Race, the last title in his lifetime, a few months before he died. For many of those years he was the highest paid journalist in the world, earning up to five dollars a word from the best publishers. In 1953 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature—not, as many suppose, for his war memoirs, but for his total output: history, biography, autobiography, political theory, memoirs, speeches, newspaper reports, articles, even a book about oil painting and an African travelogue. Richard Langworth is Founding Editor of "Finest Hour" and Senior Fellow of Hillsdale College's Churchill Project. Learn more about the Churchill Project at

Winston Churchill was the greatest statesman of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest in all of history. A close study of Churchill’s words and deeds offers timeless lessons about the virtues, especially prudence, required for great statesmanship.

Andrew Roberts Historian and Author, Churchill: Walking with Destiny Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminars are held in various locations across the country two times each year and address issues of politics, economics, and culture. The first program was held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1982 with about 200 business, education, and community leaders in attendance. Since then, more than 30,000 individuals have attended the programs. The messages of these conferences have reached millions of Americans through Hillsdale’s national speech digest, Imprimis, as well as through coverage by media outlets including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, C-SPAN, and National Public Radio. Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the

Larry P. Arnn, President, Hillsdale College In 1927, Winston Churchill wrote to his wife Clementine, “I am becoming a film fan.” He had projection equipment installed at Chequers, the country home of British prime ministers, in 1943, and at his family home Chartwell in 1946. Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the stated object of the founders: “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education” outstanding among American colleges “and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of its pupils.” As a nonsectarian Christian institution, Hillsdale College maintains “by precept and example” the