Today is a little sad, because I finished reading William Manchester’s “The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940” yesterday.
Thumbnail sketches of character and leadership are everywhere in this heroic book – Manchester’s treatment of Churchill’s character during his exile from public life is the centerpiece, but many others come in for swift explanation as well.
Baldwin: Relying on “a kind of sociological radar – signals from the voters – to determine his course,” politically expedient, passive, unsure of himself.
Chamberlain: Decisive, self-confident, domineering, grim, graceless, ruled by public opinion, wanting a quiet life for business, resentful of criticism, searching desperately for a way out, overreaching, vain, rude, vindictive, possessed with a gift for command, convinced that if he could just put the right deal together Hitler would buy it.
Churchill: Contemptuous of opinion polls, charming, Victorian, able to concentrate fiercely for long periods, driven, possessed of “a built-in gyroscope which would carry him toward his objective through tumult,” often plunged into gloom, proud of Empire and a firm believer in the strength of the British public, a prodigious writer, prose “vibrant with the terrific energy that can hold and sway vast audiences,” courageous, boundlessly fond of his family, anachronistic in dress and speech, delighting in combat, risk-loving, a grand visionary, a thespian on the radio.
Edward VIII: Pursuing pleasure, his abdication for Wallis Simpson “the greatest story since the resurrection” (Mencken), narrow, shallow, dandyish.
Generalissime Gamelin (commander in chief of the French Army): indecisive, given to issuing impulsive orders that he then countermanded, timid, unpredictable, rejecting radio contact with field commanders: “There he was, in a setting as quiet as a convent, attended by a few officers, working and meditating without mixing in day-to-day duties. In his retreat at Vincennes, General Gamelin gave the impression of a savant testing the chemical reactions of his strategy in a laboratory.” (de Gaulle). A “nice old man not remotely equal to his enormous job.”
Don’t send a low-ranking representative to lead Anglo-Polish-Russian talks – they’ll fail: “[A]n obscure and undistinguished British party was led by Admiral Sir Reginald A. R. Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, of whom Dirksen wrote that he was ‘practically on the retired list and was never on the Naval Staff.’”
There were deep doubts about Churchill for many years. “The mass distrusts controversy. Reluctant to reconsider its convictions, superstitions, and prejudices, it rarely withdraws support from those who are guiding its destinies. Thus inertia becomes an incumbent’s accomplice.” Only after multiple crises did it become apparent that Churchill had been right all along. He had solid principles and unshakable convictions. He did not tailor his views to fit the moment.