August 2012 - Richard M. Langworth

Churchill’s Favorite Newspapers

10 August 2012 Comments 7 Comments

Which newspapers did Churchill prefer? I am particularly interested in 1919, when he was Secretary of State for War and Air. Was he a Times or Telegraph reader? —J.W., via email

Remarkably, Churchill read all the newspapers he could lay his hands on—from The Times to the Daily Worker, the British version of which was later renamed the Morning Star.

He would do this in bed of a morning after breakfasting off a tray. He liked to discard each sheet of a newspaper to the left and right. In the 1940s this infuriated his valet, Frank Sawyers, who made a show of disapproval as he picked up the sheets.…

Churchill and the Kilkenny Cats

3 August 2012 Comments 0 Comments

Or: “Is the U.S. Senate like the Kilkenny Cats?”

A Churchillian friend who has written to her Senators emails:

This brief video by Senator Rand Paul is a good example of why the United States Congress has only a 10% approval rating. Isn’t Senator Reid in charge in the Senate? The video explains why the Senate is an insult to the American people.

I’ve given up on the U.S. Senate, myself. I’m glad somebody is still writing them letters.

Will any reader advise whether Senator Paul won on his July 29th point of order, attempting to get extra time to read a 600-page Senate bill due for a vote in six or eight hours?…