The Splendid and the Vile

Once in a while a leader emerges, but only in retrospect do we understand their historical impact.  Winston Churchill was that leader.

Churchill was an odd man.  He bathed twice daily, demanding that his bath water be at precisely the correct temperature.  He worked while bathing, as secretaries took dictation or recorded minutes.  He loved silk bathrobes, fuzzy slippers, marched around to band tunes, and often worked in his bed until noon.  He drank in excess, smoked many cigars, and was so demanding that many of his colleagues consistently resigned.  And sometimes he was just gross, according to Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile.

One Christmas Eve, Churchill was staying at the White House.  He was in his room while his bodyguard scouted out various points of danger.  There was a slight knock at the door and, at Churchill’s direction, his guard opened it and noticed an odd expression on President Roosevelt’s face.  In his diary, the guard noted that he “…turned, [and saw that] Churchill was stark naked, drink in one hand, a cigar in the other.”  Apparently, upon seeing this sight, Roosevelt began to wheel himself out of the room when Churchill announced: “Come on in, Franklin.  We’re quite alone.  You see I have nothing to hide.”  For the next hour, they conversed—Churchill naked, and with whiskey in hand.

But here’s the message of Larson’s beautifully chronicled biography of Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister:  pugnacious, stubborn, and demanding though he was, Churchill did not acquiesce to Hitler during the cruel nine-month Nazi blitz.  By the time it ended, nearly 57,000 Londoners were either killed or injured. 

Imagine the pressure to bend to Hitler’s demands.  As bombs fell and houses burned, with little response from Great Britain’s air defenses, common people were indiscriminately slaughtered.  Daily, the pressure to sign a neutrality pact with Hitler increased.  Had Churchill bowed to that kind of pressure, America may not have entered what became WWII, and Hitler would have defeated the Soviet Union in an advantageous one-front war.  But for the will of a flawed and eccentric man, at least the entire continent of Europe would have been under Nazi control—possibly for generations.

And what was Churchill’s reward?  Scarcely two months after the war in Europe ended, Churchill and his Conservative Party were voted out of power.

Here’s my point:  we are mistaken if we believe that leadership is about legacy; about making policy, decisions, and driving a strategic agenda that perfects a resume and solidifies a reputation.  That’s how our culture thinks about leadership.  And it is wrong.

Churchill’s legacy teaches us that leadership is fundamentally a matter of stewardship.  Leaders are called or elected to make policy and decisions, and to drive a strategic agenda that is needed for a particular historical epoch.  Churchill did what was needed for his epoch, and it resulted in his defeat.  Similarly, President Ford elected to begin healing a nation by pardoning Richard Nixon, even though it diminished his reelection chances.  That is the legacy of all great leaders.  Country—first.  Citizens—first.  Mission—first.

In this terribly painful time for our country, leaders, especially leaders at a local and state level, must understand that their first responsibility is to make the right decisions for their communities—and our country; not for party or reelection efforts.  Epochal leaders who understand their responsibility to be about stewardship are those that can begin to heal a nation, one community at a time.  If history is predictive, they don’t often serve long—but they bring honor to the offices they temporarily occupy on behalf of we, the people.