really? really, unfortunately. e-mail us at loudobbs.com, go to >> a war story. >> we will do our best. >> the public face, fearless. >> victory. victory. >> the words they believe -- >> privately -- >> you could hear the tears with his voice. sometimes while it even trickled down his cheeks. >> the life and times of winston churchill. that's next on "war stories."

this is home to one of the history's greatest leaders. main who did his best in the worst of times. sir winston churchill. i'm oliver north. this is "war stories." we're less than 40 miles from the center of london in the rolling hills of canton. for more than four decades this country home was a haven for one of the free world's most important figures. a man best known today for having stood up to hitler, personfied resilience and served as the beacon of hope in britain's darkest hours. what people don't realize is this ike onic englishman was, in fact, half american. his public life would stand more than 50 years as a dramatic combination of success and failure, of triumph and tragedy. stay with us as "war stories" looks at the life and teams of winston churchill. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and fret.

>> had it not been for adolf hitler, winston churchill would not be a household word throughout the world. >> when hitler was elected and appointed chancellor of germany in 1933, few could imagine the horror that lay ahead. winston churchill knew otherwise. >> after the slaughter of the first world war, everyone stuck their head in the sand. >> winston churchill shares more than just a name with his legendary grandfather. he is also a member of parliament. >> he was convinced that this war could be stopped without a shot. >> he also saw things very clearly, and he also saw them before other people did. >> as a child and a young woman celia often found herself on the arm of a great man who she simply knew as grandpa pa. >> you travelled with him a

great deal. >> the first journey i did with him was an incredible one. 1959, and it was on the onassis yacht, and we sailed from monte carlo all the way to istanbul. >> the tranquil waters he sailed in the medicine terrain wran were a lifetime in legacy from the ominous days of 1934. that year 45-year-old adolf hitler became germany's all-powerful furor. >> everything was building up in germany. my grandfather was absolutely telling britain that we weren't sufficiently armed, and no one wanted to hear. >> as hitler aaccepteded power churchill's three decade long political career seemed over. he was mired in what was later called his wilderness years. >> in terms of his moral strength and courage, the wilderness years when he was out of office, out of favor, when he

could count his political friends and allies in parliament on the fingers of one hand were me to his finest hour. >> churchill's career up to that point had been remarkable by any sfarnd, but he felt his destiny was unfulfilled. winston spencer churchill was born on 30, november 18, 1974 at the height of the victorian era, marked by a strict formality and rigidly divided social class. young winston found himself ensconced at the top of society. >> how many books have you written about winston churchill? >> about 30, actually. >> sir martin gilbert is winston churchill's official biographer. >> he wanted to be a politician, and he lived in the world of politics, and his father met all the political leaders and figures of the day. lord randolph was an astonishing figure.

like a meteor. he flashed across the sky. >> like his grandfather, he has been a member of parliament for more than two decades. lord randolph's life in public service may have inspired winston, but he was no loving father. >> lord randolph was not a nice man. he didn't mean to be, but he was. >> what drove him? >> it might have been the add mixture of american revolutionary blood. possibly even a little iroqouis blood from his mother. >> lord randolph, he married this remarkable american woman, g jenny jerome. >> he was considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. the daughter of a new york banker, the intelligent and independent jerome even adorned her left wrist with a tattoo of a snake. obviously not your typical aristocrat. >> the fact that she was american must have played a huge part in how he was. if you listen to the way he spoke, he didn't have this very

upper class english accent that you hear that other people with a pitched tone and all that. >> he worshipped his mother. >> his victorian england aristocrats didn't raise their children. >> he was really brought up by mrs. everest, his wonderful nan nanny. >> he was the dearest friend that i had for the first 20 years of my life. it was to her i poured out all my many troubles. >> reporter: at age 7 young winston was shipd shipped off to boarding school. at 13 he transferred to harold where he remained a hit or miss student. his grades made admission to top tier universities like oxford or cambridge unlikely, so he set his sights on britain's west point. it took three attempts before he was finally accepted into the cavalry. >> it was about one of the most crushing rebukes that any father has ever delivered. >> at the time the cavalry meant much lower prestige than the infantry. >> unless you mend your ways, you'll end up just another public school failure and a

social wasteful and will eek out a miserable existence until the end of your days. he wanted to be worthy of his father, and that, i think, drove him. >> despite his father's doubts, churchill remained ever the optimist. >> he very early on had a great belief in himself. he said to one of his early girlfriends, we are all worms that i do believe that i am a glow worm. >> churchill's father died on 24 january, 1895, just four weeks before winston graduated from sandhurst and joined the army. >> for the next decade, his mother did everything for him and was a fantastic figure. as he said once, in all of the help, she left no stone unturned and no cuplet uncooked. >> he improved himself and the people that he was very brave. >> winston churchill, the young

soldier, fought across five continents all the way from northwest frontier of india, sudan, where he took part in the last great cavalry charge of history. >> winston churchill left the army in 1899 hoping his combat experience would bolster his reputation. he made a run for parliament and lost. undeterred, he found work as a war correspondent from london's morning post. >> he was in south africa, north anglo war, and he was taken prisoner. and he escaped with a price of 25 pounds on his head for his recapture dead or alive. >> his escape became a point of tremendous national interest. suddenly he was the man of the hour. >> his role got him elect as a member of the conservative party. four years later the 30-year-old winston churchill caused political turmoil when he switched to the labor party in a dispute over taxes.

that year he met 19-year-old. they married on 12 september, 1908. >> my grandmother was an absolutely formidable woman. she understood him. she was able to guide him sometime, but he became vexxed or irate. >> in 1911 churchill was appointed -- putting him in charge of britain's royal navy. it was in this post that he was blamed for one of history's biggest military blunders. churchill hatched a plan for the 1915 amphibious invasion of turkey, the aim? knock the empire out, a german empire out of world war i. it ended in disaster. forced withdraw, the british-led ally troops suffered more than 46,000 dead and 200,000 wounded. a disgraced churchill resigned his government post and took command on the western front. >> he is convinced that his political career is in ruins,

and at that time somebody in the smartest club in london said to another member that mr. winston churchill will never again hold public office. >> just ahead on "war stories." >> he had all the incredible anxiety and worry and challenges trying to convince the world what was happening.@? ♪i see trees of green

♪red roses too ♪i see them bloom ♪for me and you ♪and i think to myself ♪what a wonderful world ♪music ♪i hear babies cry ♪i watch them grow ♪they'll learn much more ♪than i'll ever know ♪and i think to myself ♪what a wonderful world ♪music ♪oh yeah

with the slaughter hanging over his head, winston churchill returned home to england and his wife and three children in may 1916. the controversy made his prospects for a new government post decidedly bleak. >> who is his solis in that very dark time? >> his solis was painting. he started with his kids' paint box, and he went on with oils,

and he could afall the canvas for hours and not think of anything else. >> churchill still had some admirers. one of them was the liberal party's prime minister, lloyd george, who named him minister of munichs in 19d 17. seven years later his political career was flourishing. he even returned to the conservative party in 1924. by 1929 he was the father of five and chancellor. britain's head of the treasury. it was one step away from the prime ministery. he had also become the proud owner of british country estates, chartwell. >> it was a place he loved best in the whole world. >> located in kent, chartwell cost the churchills 5,000 pounds, about $22,000, when they bought it in 1922. >> what did mrs. churchill think of chartwell? >> it was affected by the fact that winston really didn't consult her before he bought it. he bought it and then told her.

>> judith is a manager at chartwell, now a museum. >> but i think she had great expectations of the place really. she did have a state of their finances. she knew that this is really making quite a hole in their finances. >> their wallet suffered another blow in 1929 when churchill lost his chancellor post after the labor party won at the polls. he remained a member of parliament, but money was tight. >> he basically keeps his family together making speeches and writing. >> it's what gave hem the power to continue in politics. he got his money from writing books and from eventually more than one every week newspaper article, and this enabled him to maintain his wonderful house, chartwell. >> in the course of his lifetime, churchill would have 40 titles published in over 60

volumes. in when america weathered the depression, he earned roughly $that,000, lecturing in the united states. the tour nearly turned fatal in december. churchill was looking the wrong way while crossing fifth avenue in new york, and he was struck by a car. >> when did he first see hitler as a threat? >> already by 1933. by the time that he actually comes to power he was warning of the dangers of nazi germany. >> he had all this incredible anxiety, worry, and challenges during first to try to convince the world what was happening. >> they branded him a war monger for his troubles.

>> despite churchill's warnings, little was done to counter the nazi's rising power. in an effort to avoid war, british prime minister nefl chamberlain signed the munich agreement with hitler in september of 1938. germany was allowed to occupy a part of check slovakia called the sudatan land. >> did he call -- >> absolutely. >> he characterize the munich agreement with -- churchill likeerned defeating a crocodile in the hopes that he eats you last. >> how does he deal with his frustration? >> he deals with his frustration by an incredible period of parliamentary speechlz. efg climbing a mountain, and more and more people were following. >> in march of 1939 late that

summer in france an anxious winston churchill dabbed at a canvas. >> he looked up from his paint, and he said this is the last picture we will paint in peace for a very long time. indeed it was. >> with hit der poised of know about investing.

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skwlirchlgts september 139 church hell was proven right. the germans invade poland. it's the beginning of world war ii. while america watched britain, france, australia, canada, and

new sgreeld declare war on germany, the nazi conquest was for now an unstoppable force. >> my crime was swept in the tide of public feeling. the policy has failed, and we've got to have somebody who will confront the challenge of the hour. >> 10 may, 1940, the nazis invade france, belgium, lucks emback to youing, and the netherlands. a concerned king george summoned churchill. >> he came in. i don't propose for you know why -- and -- no, sir, i have no idea, and, of course -- >> my grandfather wrote of his feelings as he lay his head down on the pillow that night. i felt i was walking with

destiny and all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial. 65 years old as he put it qualified to draw the old age pension. >> on his first day as prime minister, he delivered a challenge. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. we have before us an ordeal of the most grieveus time. we have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering. >> they were stark honest worz. sur vifl was at stake. even in the bleakest of times, he was a beacon of hope. >> you are -- i can offer one word. victory. victory. >> june 1940 with continental europe under hitler's control,

they are -- over 335,000 allied troops made it across the channel to england, but most of the equipment lay abandoned in france. >> and yet my grandfather was able to persuade the british nation that not only could we hang on, but ultimately we could win this war. >> we should fight on the beaches. we should fight on the landing grounds. we should fight in the fields, and in the streets. we should fight in the hills. we should never surrender. >> churchill closed this speech with a thinly vailed plea for help from america and f.d.r. >> in god's good time, the new world with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and deliberation of the old. >> people believed this deliverance would come. the word they believed was churchill's word. >> england was going to fight, and i wasn't going to be there.

>> english born but canadian raised elizabeth was 22 years old when war erupted in europe. she was determined to get in the fight, but she was stuck in british columbia. >> i wrote these. could i have permission to cross it is atlantic? i want to help with the war. that the gentlemen wrote back and said no, i'm very sorry. you can't. we're not letting any girls cross the atlantic at the moment. >> german u boats were decimate says convoy after convoy, and elizabeth wasn't afraid, and she didn't give up. eventually she was given permission to make the trip. >> and we went all the way across the atlantic like this. and we missed all the u boats, and they missed us. and so i got back. >> but hitler had got there first. >> i was aware that i was going

to be shocked at what had been happening in london. people's homes were being blown right off. i wanted to be part of it. >> elizabeth now was hired to be church chill's secretary. satisfy she came here to work for one of the world's most demanding bosses. >> winston churchill had a loving heart and we all know that conquers although. >> that's next on "war stories." .

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dark age. >> as 1940 drew to a closes, britain led by winston churchill was alone and desperate, but to most americans the war was europe's problem. >> does he understand the anti-war opposition in the united states? >> he does, but i get the impression that he really believes that f.d.r. is looking for any excuse to end the war. >> do they worry about the extent of britain, particularly of british intelligence was reading the cables by that terrible joseph kennedy. the ambassador in london, he said for goodness sake, don't send them arms because this stuff will fall into german hands. in public churchill maintained a gee fint bulldog persona, but privately he was deeply concerned. >> on one occasion where he was going into downing street, a group of workmen saw him, and norm normally he would turn and

go out and talk, but instead of doing that, he was fumbling with the key, and churchill turned his whole face, and it was covered, and he said there's nothing i can do for them. they have such faith in me, but he didn't dare face them because of that moment he felt the situation was hopeless. >> 1941 almost 20,000 british civilians were killed by nazi bombs. still, churchill was a beaken of hope. >> today every politician has a stable full of speech writers. who was your grandfather's speechwriter? >> he was a very remarkable man called winston spencer churchill. my grandfather would devote one hour of preparation to every minute of delivery, so a 30 minute speech would take 30 hours of preparing it. >> we will have no truth or folly with you of the grizzly

gang to work your wicked will. >> we will do our best. >> he woke up at 8:00 in the morning of normandy, and then his breakfast was taken into him, and he would stay sitting in bed, and one of his personal secretaries must have been behind the typewriter which was just near his bed. that was from half past 8:00 in the 1:00. then he would get up and have a bath and get dressed, and either go to his meeting or receive his visitor. >> dinner followed, and then it was back to work until the wee hours of the morning. >> however late you stayed up with him being the only woman in his bedroom sometimes, mr. churchill wasn't like that.

we never had any fears about working late for him. >> everything must be double spaces. he didn't like to see it all crowded up together. it was a lot of typing. somebody else had been using that typewriter and had left it at single spacing. after a bit he came behind the typewriter to see how it was getting on, and he just let out a burst. what on earth are you doing it like that for? so i sat up very straight and said i'm very sorry, mr. churchill. i've made a mistake, and i heard him say "the mug, idiot, the bloody fool." then he swung around to me and

said send me somebody who knows how to do my work right the first time. you know, i can still hear that in my mind. >> for churchill pearl harbor changed everything. >> what was your grandfather's reaction? >> well, his reaction, you know, the kind of thing to say was thank god. >> he felt that now we were going to win. even if it took time, but we were going to win. >> during the war f.d.r., churchill, and stalin met to determine the allied course of action. these summits produced some of the war weighs most famous images, but for elizabeth they were much more than photo ops. >> i longed to be able to record because they had never taken one of the female staff, and i put a note in his black box and when mr. churchill saw this, he said, well, i don't see why she

shouldn't go if she wants to. >> elizabeth now has a ringside seat as history was being made. >> i went with him to cairo three times. and to quebec twice. once to moscow and also -- you see, my claim to be the luckiest young woman in all the world is well supported. >> he is also in one of the world war ii's best kept secrets. >> the british group, mr. roosevelt was in the wheelchair. >> she also observed the tensions among the big three. >> he saw that stalin was moving over to roosevelt and was paying no more attention to him, and so he felt out of it. >> they meet in tie raun with stalin, and the u.s. embassy doesn't have the facilities to accommodate the president.

my grandfather said, well, come and stay with me at the british embassy. no, no, thanks, f.d.r. i'm staying with my friend, uncle joe. there were several such for my grandfather very humiliating rebuffs. >> at the tehran conference in late 1943, they set a date for the invasion of normandy. the march to victory was on. the churchill could see new problems. >> stalin is planning to create a brand new empire out of europe with the soviet red army at his throat and at its heart. that was what really bothered my grandfather. it didn't seem to have bothered f.d.r. at all. >> there's no head of space who so often visits the troops.

>> they found him down in the engine room and talking to the man. >> they want to be here. >> of course, he did because he could relate to the soldiers. he had been one himself. >> in the end it took tim george 6:00 himself to keep churchill off the beaches and safe, but the king wasn't always around. >> there's a story about him going up to the roof. >> the story is -- i'm not quite sure which building it was, but he went up on the roof. [ siren ] >> and it was cold, and so this is churchill sent up a message to say please, winston, go downstairs now. he said no, i've got my warm coat on, and i've got my hat on, and i have found a nice warm place to sit, and i'm not going down. >> suddenly the whole of the building starts to smoke below. >> officials started rushing up to the roof. we can't think what's going on. the place is full of smoke. >> he was sitting on the chimney and so the smoke couldn't get out. >> no wonder he felt so nice and

warm. >> perhaps winston's warmest day came in early may 1945. >>. >> good evening. she never did this. well, the war is over. you've played your part. now who could ever forget that? >> this is your victory. you have never known the greater day. >> advance brittania. long live the cause of freedom. god save the king. >> world war ii barely over, churchill comes to america to warn of a new threat. that's next on "war stories." it's a man's world?

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26 july, 1945, as britain bafshgs in the allied victory in europe, a general election left 70-year-old winston churchill wondering, would he be allowed to leave the country in peace time? >> few people could imagine that after bringing the war in europe to a victorious conclusion that he would be booted out. >> he could hardly believe it because there had been thousands of people turning out to thank him and cheer him and bless him. >> my grandmother's comment was my dear, perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. >> certainly very effectively disguised was my grandfather, but my grandmother was right. he had poured out his lifeblo,

blood, and energy in defeating adolf hitler, and he was exhausted. >> as clementine stayed behind to prepare chartwell, a gloomy winston flew to italy for a much needed vaigs vacation. by the end of a month the well-rested churchill had painted 15 canvass and was back at chartwell writing his war memoirs. >> by 1946 he was effectively bankrupt because for the previous six or seven years he had been unable to write any books. he had been unable to lecture. and, therefore, he was faced with the prospect of having to sell his beloved home. >> the fact that the man who had 4e7d save britain from the nazis was teetering on bankruptcy outraged churchill's friends. a newspaper publisher william barry offered the cash strapped churchill 50,000 pounds for chartwell. >> he corralled and purchased

chartwell from them understanding that hi grand parents would live there until the end of his days. >> did he miss being involved in the momentous events of world war ii? >> he was leader of the party. leader of the opposition. played a major part in bringing on young talent, and, of course, giving his wonderful lectures in the united states, working very closely with truman, understanding that truman understood the soviet danger. >>. >> by march of 1946 churchill was doing all he could to warn everybody of the soviet danger. that month president harry truman invited churchill to make a speech at westminster college in fulton, missouri. >> in the adriatic and iron curtain has descended across the kond independent. >> again, he was telling everyone, telling the world what they didn't want to hear, but it was the beginning of the cold war. >> the purpose was to beg the united states not to make the

mistake that it had done in the 1920s of turning its back on europe. sfwroo once again, a churchill warning caused considerable controversy. some members of parliament called for his censure. ironically, his former allies of joseph stalin labelled him a war monger. >> back home at chartwell churchill continued to work on his memoirs. >> he had a dream in 1947 that his father came to him and they were discussing what had happened in the world since his father's death. >> never quite got up to the moment when he could become prime minister, so the dream ended about before he was able to tell his father that i had actually made quite a success. having been favored, his father had predicted. >> churchill once joked i'm prepared to meet my maker. whether my maker is prepared for

the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. when "war stories" returns, the final days of sir winston churchill.

>> during the late 1940s chartwell hung with activity as churchill continued work on his war memoirs, but he still managed find time for his grandchildren, including young winston. >> did you have a sense for the greatness of your grandfather? >> i think if anybody had said to me what's your grandfather do, i might well have replied he is a brick layer because if the weather was nice, we would spend two or three very happy hours each afternoon while he laid bricks completing his large wall

around his immense vegetable garden. >> as grandchildren, we're probably the only people who took him completely for granted. we were really oblivious to anything except the fact that he was grandpapa. >> grandpapa was also the leader of britain's conservative party, a fixture at the podium. churchill continued to speak out on world events, especially on the threat of communism, and he couldn't resist when once again destiny knocked on his door. >> 25 october, 195 is. at age 76 one stop churchill became britain's prime minister for a second time. >> it is an exciting night, and i remember staying up late when the results were coming in, and the whole family would say close. >> clementine told a friend she knew it would be uphill work, but added her husband has a willing, eager heart. >> he should be. he was an old man, for god sake. he was 20 years older. and it wasn't the great period

for him as prime minister. he was -- and in trying to persuade the russians not to go ahead with this nuclear arms race. >> despite the gloom surrounding his second term, there were some bright spots. in 1953 he was knighted by the queen and received the nobel prize for literature, but as he approached 80, the old lion's age was clearly catching up to him. >> he is getting to be an old man already. >> lord peter carrington serbed as the parliament rip secretary in churchill's government. >> he is still magical. he had his magical personality. >> in june of 1953 he suffered a stroke as he recovered at chartwell. the public was told he was suffering from exhaustion. >> he was quite ill. i think those around him became rather frustrated that he didn't resign. >> his health deteriorating, churchill finally did resign on 5 april, 1955. at chartwell, he continued to

paint and occasionally ventured out on his friend aristotle onassis' yacht. as the 1960s unfolded, an increasingly fragile churchill withdrew from public life. on 10 january, 1965, he suffered a devastating second stroke. >> his last days, did you see him often in those times? >> we used to go every day to visit my grandfather, and we knew that it was inevitable. those were ten long days, and he was very peaceful. he was lying in his bed asleep with his marmalade cat curled up beside him. it was sad, but it wasn't tragic because he had enough had enough. >> two two weeks later exactly 70 days he died. he was 90. >> what were winston churchill's

greatest gifts? >> undoubtedly courage. >> the atrocities against which we are -- >> physical and moral courage. >> his greatest vice was failing. >> impatience. when things went wrong. impatience with people. >> people can throw stones at him for being impatient, for being demanding, but we who worked personally for him grew to love him most truly. >> i don't think that anybody else would have done what he did at that time, and for that i'm eternally grateful, and he is my great hero. >> when "war stories" returns, a farewell fit for a king. @? mom!

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♪

tell me about the funeral. >> it was a cold january day with a biting northeasterly wind. the streets lined with so many people. ♪ ♪ glory, glory hallelujah >> to be in st. paul's with the singing of the battle hymn of the republic and acknowledgment of the fact that he was half american. ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ >> what crowds gathered, children waving, and the old soldiers standing to attention, saluting, it was an incredible moment of emotion and love. ♪ his truth is marching on

♪ >> it wasn't the funeral. it was a triumph. his life is a triumph because for all the pair wichl, the adulation, everything else, he had a bloody tough life. he was a tough man. you know, to last that long after that sort of endeavor, we will never see his life again. that's for sure. >> winston churchill's life is summed up by his own words. in 1941 as britain was at the extinction of the nazis and hitler, winston offered these words of advice. never give in. never, never, never, never. nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except the conviction of honor or good sense. nooefr field to force. never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. his is a war story that deserves to be told. i'm oliver north. good night. you.

♪ >> from queens college, city university of new york. >> university of virginia. >> university of texas at austin. >> guatemala. >> unc charlotte. >> vanderbilt university. >> university of queensland, brisbane, australia. >> university of maryland. >> are you republican? >> no. >> are you democrats? no. john: what are you? [shouting] [applause] >> and now, john stossel. [applause] john: i'm in washington, d.c.