By Laura Brown

Professor J. Rufus Fears gave the April 1 Morning Forum audience a one-hour condensation of his 36-lecture “History of Freedom” course by focusing on the leadership qualities of Winston Churchill as an example of statesmanship. A professor of classics at the University of Oklahoma, Fears has been chosen as Professor of the Year three times.

In Fears’ opinion, history has produced only four true statesmen: Churchill, Pericles of Athens, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to Fears, four characteristics define a statesman — bedrock principles, a moral compass, vision and the ability to build consensus. Fears recounted how Churchill embodied these characteristics during his long career.

After Churchill graduated from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst at age 20, he requested a posting to India’s turbulent Northwest Frontier, where he saw action and proved his bravery continuously. As a much-decorated war hero, Churchill was elected to Parliament at age 26, and made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911. Fears pointed out that at a time when Britannia ruled the waves, the position was second only to the prime minister in British government.

The failure at Gallipoli in 1915, which cost 120,000 casualties, resulted in Churchill’s resignation in disgrace. “Unlike today’s disgraced politicians, who sign a $10 million tell-all book contract and tour the country, Churchill enlisted in the military and served in the trenches during World War I,” Fears said.

Strong principles guided Churchill throughout his life, Fears said, whether in military service, where he asked for combat posts, or in government, when he did not shrink from taking unpopular positions even though they sometimes cost him his job. In 1940, thinking surrender to the Germans was inevitable, Lord Halifax tapped Churchill to be prime minister and bear the stigma of defeat. Instead, Churchill made his famous speech in which he said, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Churchill’s refusal to capitulate to what he saw as the inherent evil of Hitler turned public opinion around and energized Great Britain to fight for victory at all costs.

Churchill’s truthfulness was attested to by Dwight Eisenhower, who said, “I knew he meant it” when Churchill told him, “General, I am with you in this until the very end.”

Churchill’s moral compass gave him an absolute sense of right and wrong, Fears said, unlike most politicians who govern by opinion polls. His vision of the ideals of liberty and justice, as embodied by Britain and the United States, guided his opposition to both fascism and communism. Fears said that when Churchill decried the Nazis’ invasion of Russia and was accused of being pro-Stalin, he responded, “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make a favorable reference to the Devil.”

Fears closed by quoting from Churchill’s speech to the graduating class at his old school, Harrow, in 1941: “Never give in. Never, never, never, never.” And he never did, Fears said.

Morning Forum is a members-only lecture series held at the United Methodist Church of Los Altos. Memebership is closed for the year. To get on a waiting list for membership, write to: Morning Forum, P.O. Box 274, Los Altos 94023-0274.