| On December 13,1931 Winston Churchill stepped out of a taxi in New York City and was hit by a car travelling at 35 MPH. Had the future British Prime Minister succumbed to his injuries, the fate of western civilization would have been forever changed. Brief Career Recap Earlier that year, Churchill had resigned from the Conservative Business Committee AKA the Shadow Cabinet. It was a rather sudden end (actually “a pause”) to Churchill’s controversial career. In 1911, at age 37 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Unfortunately, Churchill’s tenure was marred by his backing of the disastrous 1915 naval attack on Turkish forces in the Dardanelles. In 1924, Conservative P.M. Stanley Baldwin appointed Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer (comparable to America’s Treasury Secretary). When Baldwin’s government was ousted by the Labor Party in 1929, Churchill resigned from his post and joined Baldwin’s shadow government. He resigned in 1931 because of policy disagreements. Even though he had once controlled Britian’s economy, Churchill had never paid much attention to personal finances. Now 57 years old and accustomed to an extravagant lifestyle he decided to pursue writing as a way to earn income and also remain in the public eye. He decided to begin a book tour and scheduled his first lecture in New York City. Bang Just after 10:00 pm on December 13, Churchill hailed a taxi to get to a meeting with American financier Bernard Baruch. Disembarking from the taxi, the future P.M. forgot that Americans drove on the opposite side of the road from the British. Churchill looked right instead of left and was soon being rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was treated for scalp wounds, cracked ribs, severe bruises and pleurisy. The unemployed truck driver whose car hit Churchill was extremely upset about the incident. When he visited Churchill in the hospital the future P.M. put the man at ease and took responsibility for the accident. Churchill was forced to cancel the remaining tour dates because of lingering weakness. He did find time to send a telegram to his science advisor, Professor Frederick Lindemann, “to calculate the precise force of the impact.” Lindemann couldn’t provide a precise answer but couldn’t resist suggesting that Churchill’s ample girth cushioned the impact. Irony Earlier that year, John Scott-Ellis, scion of a prominent British family was driving his brand-new Fiat in Munich when he struck a pedestrian. The victim insisted his injuries weren’t serious and accepted the driver’s apology. As Scott-Ellis drove away his passenger exclaimed ‘Don’t you know you just knocked down Adolf Hitler?’ Later, the Englishman recalled “For a few seconds, perhaps, I held the history of Europe in my rather clumsy hands…. [Hitler] was only shaken up, but had I killed him, it would have changed the history of the world.” In Churchill’s case, had his New York mishap proved fatal would anyone else have been able to save Britain from Hitler? Probably not. Politicians like Neville Chamberlain or Lord Halifax did not have the backbone to stand up to Hitler. And certainly, no other leader had the oratorical skills needed to rally the public. Wit and Wisdom All of us in the Western world are indebted to Winston Churchill for his fearless leadership in World War II. And we can also thank him for his many memorable quotes. These are some favorites: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” “This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.” “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put”. Lady Astor once said to Churchill: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Churchill replied: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.” Playwright George Bernard Shaw once wrote to Churchill: “I have reserved two tickets for you for opening night. Come and bring a friend, if you have one.” Churchill replied: “Impossible to come to first night. Will come second night, if you have one.” Have a great weekend. Be sure to look left. If you are looking for the perfect holiday gift or stocking stuffer, check-out my book “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. Visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for to see reviews and connect to online retailers. |
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