history, Churchill entered Parliament in 1900 as a
Conservative. Four years later he joined the Liberals,
and subsequently held several ministerial posts. Briefly
out of Parliament after the First World War, he was
reconciled with the Conservatives, becoming Chancellor
in Baldwin's government. Out of office from 1929, he
became a lone voice calling for rearmament against the
emerging European dictators - a position that was vindicated when
the Second World War began, and he came back to power as leader of the Coalition Government.
During the war, his remarkable speaking skills and outstanding leadership
qualities made him a symbol of resistance to tyranny throughout the world. Although he misjudged the mood of the electorate after the war, and lost the 1945 election, he recovered and led his party back to
power for a final term in office at the age of seventy-six.
