Stanley Baldwin Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Churchill’s Magnanimity: Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947)

20 December 2021 Comments 2 Comments

Churchill’s censorious remark about Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was not, I was pleased to learn, his last words. Once again his characteristic magnanimity prevailed. My thanks to my colleague Dave Turrell for this information.

June, 1947

Sir Martin Gilbert published the arresting assertion by Churchill in 1947 (In Search of Churchill, 1995, 106). In June, WSC was invited to send a letter (I would think for a festschrift) on Baldwin’s 80th birthday, August 3rd. Writing to an intermediary, Churchill refused. “I wish Stanley Baldwin no ill, but it would have been much better if he had never lived.”…

Churchill’s Consistency: Politics Before Country (Part 2)

20 August 2021 Comments 0 Comments

Consistency in Politics…

…was a theme of Churchill’s, and he often wrote about it. He made many mistakes, but throughout his career he was seldom guilty of lacking consistency. Continued from Part 1…

“Much better if he had never lived”

Churchill maintained friendly relations with Baldwin until Baldwin died in 1947. Nevertheless—which was rare for him—he never forgave and never forgot. In June 1947 he made an astonishing statement: “I wish Stanley Baldwin no ill, but it would have been much better if he had never lived.” Official biographer Martin Gilbert wrote that this was not Churchill’s usual consistency, but exactly the opposite:

In my long search for Churchill few letters have struck a clearer note than this one.…

Churchill’s Consistency: “Politics Before Country” (Part 1)

10 August 2021 Comments 0 Comments

“Churchill’s Consistency,” first published in 2011, is updated with material from my book, Churchill and the Avoidable War. It exonerates, partially, the statements and actions of Mr. Baldwin in the debate of rearmament in the 1930s.

“Politics before country”

A U.S. Congressman, observing America’s spending problem, proposed an elaborate plan to fix it. In the process he didn’t wilt under the assault directed toward anyone who defies the status quo by proposing practical change. Intending to defend his ideas in a speech, his private office asked me to verify what Churchill said on consistency among politicians.…