CHURCHILL’S PASSING, ONCE MORE

The 54th Anniversary of His Death

Winston Churchill died at his London home, 28 Hyde Park Gate, on January 24, 1965, a Sunday morning, shortly after eight o’clock, at the age of 90; exactly seventy years to the day of his father’s death. His State Funeral on January 30 was one of the largest and most poignant in British history.

Churchill’s presence in our culture seems more palpable just now than at any other time since his death. It is his absence, however, that we most pointedly feel. We read and re-read his books, ponder his speeches, and pour over each newly-published biographical work, like Andrew Roberts’ stellar, new CHURCHILL: Walking with Destiny, trying to absorb what Churchill left behind; searching for a path forward or, at the very least, a way back. That he existed at all is, in itself, reassuring. That his lessons continually need to be relearned is a sad fact of history, with an emphasis on the word “fact.”