The ten lessons of Winston Churchill

3. GIVE IT TO THEM STRAIGHT!

When I grew up in Philadelphia, the mayor, the fire chief and the police chief were all standing on the curb during a four-alarm fire.

They were present on the scene and they fed the press the information as they got it.

That’s the key to it! - show up, and tell the truth as you get it - no "rolling disclosure" feeding it out when you’ve got yourself covered - or when it’s politically convenient.

Here is Eleanor Roosevelt on Churchill’s wartime candor:

"To explain to one’s country that there must be a long period while the military forces are being trained and armed, during which production will be one of the most important factors, and that meanwhile people must be patient and hope at best ‘to hold the line’ is no easy or popular thing to do. I always had great admiration for the way in which Mr. Churchill did this. In some ways he was more blunt with the people of Great Britain than my husband ever was with us."

In England’s hour of peril Churchill was brutally candid, ready to lay out the worst.

People trusted him because he believed the British people could stand the truth; indeed, they demanded it.

When Singapore fell in February of 1942:

"I speak to you all under the shadow of a heavy and far-reaching military defeat," he said in a national broadcast.

When Tobruk fell in June 1942, he told the House - after beating back a vote of censure:

"Some people assume too readily that, because a Government keeps cool and has steady nerves under reverses, its members do not feel the public misfortunes as keenly as do independent critics. On the contrary, I doubt whether anyone feels greater sorrow or pain than those who are responsible for the general conduct of our affairs."

"Tell the truth to the British people. They are a tough people, a robust people. They may be a bit offended at the moment, but if you have told them exactly what is going on, you have insured yourself against complaints and reproaches which are very unpleasant when they come home on the morrow of some disillusion.

The worst thing, he said, was to promise good news and stand there as it is dashed.

"There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hopes soon to be swept away. The British people can face peril or misfortune with fortitude and buoyancy, but they bitterly resent being deceived or finding that those responsible for their affairs are themselves dwelling in a fool’s paradise."

"I must point out that the British nation is unique in this respect. They are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst, and like to be told that they are very likely to get much worse in the future and must prepare themselves for further reverses."

I wonder if the British are that "unique."

4. KNOW THE POWER OF SPIRIT

Churchill knew that national morale was everything. That’s why he told the British people in his most famous address to "brace" themselves.

His talk of Britain serving in its "finest hour" went to his people’s notion of themselves.

Roosevelt knew it, too. Remember what he said on taking office in the depths of the Great Depression? "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Or young President Kennedy’s calls in the early 1960s for the "the New Frontier," his championing of the space race, his creation of the Peace Corps.

Or Ronald Reagan and how he talked in 1984 of the "the boys" who won at Normandy forty years before, his tribute to the astronauts who had just perished aboard the Challenger.

As Churchill said as he left the premiership for the last time in 1955 - "man is spirit."

Name a leader who did not know this.

5. MOTIVE!

A very smart Canadian pollster once told me that leaders in any country share three great attributes: motive, passion and spontaneity.

Ask any politician or office-holder "Why are you there?"

For Abraham Lincoln, it was to end the expansion of slavery and, later, to save the union

For F-D-R it was the cause of "the forgotten man," then the defeat of Hitler.

For Ronald Reagan - and every cab driver knew it - it was to bring down communism abroad and big government at home.

"In politics when you are in doubt," as Churchill said way back in 1927, "do nothing." "In politics, when you are in doubt what to say, say what you really think."

Polling and the constant positioning and re-positioning it encourages, are the bain of today’s politics.

I’ll take motive, true motive, every time. It explains why Reagan, of all our recent Presidents, rose to one of the top echelon of presidents and may well remain there.

6. STUDY HISTORY! STUDY HISTORY! STUDY HISTORY!

The great broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow once introduced a volume of Winston Churchill’s recorded speeches by saying:

"The voice you are about to hear is that of the only man who ever prophesized history, made history and recorded history."

Here’s what Churchill himself said:

"The farther back you can look, the farther forward you can see."

7. DO SOMETHING EXCITING IN YOUR TWENTIES

Churchill would not have been Churchill had he not gotten out there in his youth, seen the world, proven himself, earned stories to tell. My two years in Africa, including all the crazy hitchhiking and other experiences, were my door-opener to politics, journalism, everything that’s big out there.

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