Winston Churchill (1874—1965) began his military career in 1895 as a junior officer in the British Army. He won his first election to the House of Commons in 1900, and a decade later, was named first lord of the admiralty, a civilian post leading the Royal Navy. Churchill was serving in that position when the First World War began, and later served as an Army battalion commander on the Western Front in France.

In the late 1930s, Churchill emerged as a leading voice denouncing the spread of fascism. When Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s strategy of appeasing Adolf Hitler’s aggression toward Czechoslovakia gave rise to disaster, emboldening Hitler to invade Poland, Churchill joined Chamberlain’s war cabinet, serving again as first lord of the admiralty. Just eight months into the war, Chamberlain resigned, and the 65-year-old Churchill was chosen to be the new prime minister.

Leading a coalition government that spanned the political spectrum, the defiant Churchill rallied the British people to the fight against Hitler. In private, he pleaded with President Roosevelt to bring America into the war and help sustain Britain as it battled Nazi forces. Throughout the war, he was one of the leading architects behind the strategy to triumph over Hitler.

Churchill’s term as prime minister came to a shocking end in 1945 when his party was voted out of power. He became prime minister again in 1951 but stepped down four years later due to declining health. Churchill passed away in 1965 at the age of ninety.