A Misplaced War on Greatness: Winston Churchill and His “Cultured Despisers”

• In Event: Churchill at 150: 1874-2024

Abstract

In recent years, we have witnessed a concerted effort by various academics, intellectuals, and activists to besmirch the reputation of Winston Churchill by questioning the solidity of his judgment and his commitment to democratic values, and, most importantly, by confusing his support for the British empire with racism and cruel indifference to native peoples. Churchill’s unsurpassed opposition to Nazi and Communist totalitarianism is relativized, and his commitment to “civilisation with its mercy,” as Macaulay suggestively called it, is overlooked or ignored. Little or no effort is made to understand Churchill as he understood himself. Moreover, as this paper will demonstrate, most of Churchill’s fevered critics question the very categories of honorable ambition or political greatness. This paper will attempt to restore balanced judgment to a discussion increasingly dominated by ideological clichés and overwrought condemnations.

Author

• Daniel J. Mahoney, Assumption University