Winston Churchill - Prime Minister | Mini Biography

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (Nov. 30, 1874 to Jan. 24, 1965) was a British politician, military officer and writer who served as the prime minister of Great Britain from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. Born to an aristocratic family in 1874, Churchill served in the British Army and worked as a writer before earning election to Parliament in 1900. After becoming prime minister in 1940, Churchill helped lead a successful Allied strategy with the U.S. and Soviet Union during World War II to defeat the Axis powers and craft post-war peace. Elected prime minister again in 1951, he introduced key domestic reforms. As with other influential world leaders, Churchill left behind a complicated legacy. Remembered by his countrymen for defeating the dark regime of Hitler and the Nazis, he topped the list of greatest Britons of all time in a 2002 BBC poll. To critics, his steadfast commitment to British imperialism underscored his disdain for other races and cultures.