CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Typed letter signed, to a supportive newspaper editor, following being denied a ministerial position. Yet again denied a position in the Chamberlain government, Churchill professes not to be disappointed: "I am not at all sure whether I have shown any particular desire to join this government".Churchill was excluded from high office throughout the 1930s because of his calls for rearmament and his opposition to appeasement and increased self-government for India. In May 1938, the government was reshuffled following the resignation of Lord Swinton as Secretary of State for Air. Against the backdrop of the Sudetenland crisis and the ever-increasing assertiveness of the dictators, support for Churchill's position was growing. Rubeigh James Minney (1895-1979), editor of The Sunday Referee from 1935 to 1939, had published a "complimentary article" on 15 May calling for Churchill's appointment, which Churchill writes "gave me pleasure, though it was far too flattering".Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain excluded Churchill once more, and he returned to office only after the outbreak of war. Churchill concludes to Minney, "It would give me pleasure to meet you", which he says his secretary will arrange in the coming fortnight. Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections.

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