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Liberal Party
The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College > Liberal Party
Great Contemporaries: Asquith: The Last Victorian Liberal (2)
06
Mar
2023
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
“Asquith fell when the enormous task was but half completed. He fell with dignity. He bore adversity with composure. In or out of power, disinterested patriotism and inflexible integrity were his only guides. Let it never be forgotten that he was always on his country's side in all her perils, and that he never hesitated to sacrifice his personal or political interests to the national cause.” —Churchill
Great Contemporaries: Asquith: The Last Victorian Liberal (1)
17
Feb
2023
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Asquith reshaped the Liberal Cabinet, promoting Lloyd George to the Exchequer and Churchill to the Board of Trade. These two intelligent, ambitious, future prime ministers provided much of the firepower and nearly all the color that in the early Asquith government. It reflects well on Asquith’s self-assurance that he successfully managed both of them for so long.
Great Contemporaries: The Age of Lloyd George (Part 4)
15
Sep
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
“David Lloyd George's personal failings are clear, but a historian’s verdict ought to be that, in utterly unprecedented situations, he rose very well to the challenges—and far better than any conceivable alternative leader. Overshadowed now by the memory of Churchill, he deserves respectful remembrance in his own right.”
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 3)
09
Jun
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Versailles is often viewed as short-sighted and vindictive, laying the foundation for future calamity. But Lloyd George was under enormous pressure to satisfy clamant allies whose mood was either deeply angry (France) or unrealistically messianic (America). At home, the Tories wanted a harsh peace. Churchill, still a Liberal and characteristically magnanimous, argued vainly for milder treatment of Germany.
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 2)
07
Jun
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
The first thing to know about Lloyd George’s premiership is that it destroyed the Liberal Party. Internecine fighting opened the door for the Labour Party (which joined the wartime coalition). A few years later, moving from minor third-party status, Labour formed a government. The Liberals would never govern again.
Great Contemporaries: Churchill in the Age of Lloyd George (Part 1)
21
Apr
2022
2
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Much of Churchill’s pre-1914 career was tied into that of Lloyd George, who kick-started the rebuilding of that career in 1917. The memory of Lloyd George’s experience as war leader helped shape how Churchill structured his own position in 1940. Lloyd George’s career is worth remembering for its own sake, and for its impact on Churchill, who led Britain through a second and greater total war.
Great Contemporaries: Lady Violet Bonham Carter (Part 2)
25
Mar
2021
By FRED GLUECKSTEIN
Lady Violet: “He had no doubts about his star. He felt that he had been preserved through many perils in order to fulfil its purpose.”