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Two Good Reasons Why You Must Buy This Book l. Because Bourke Cockran Was Crucial... ran treated Winston as his own at a critical time in the young man’s life. By ANNE SEBBA She refrained from saying that she had moulding him, encouraging him and arranged it, that he had letters of intro- recognising his potential, he became Becoming Win- duction from the British War Office Winston’s life-long inspiration, mentor ston Churchill, and Foreign Office to the Spanish au- and father figure. by Michael Mc- thorities, which enabled him to go to Until now, Cockran, the man who Menamin and the front and watch the operations. helped shape Churchill’s political and Curt Zoller. But Jennie was pleased about the economic views on individualism and Greenwood, trip since it gave her the chance to in- free trade, is almost a forgotten figure. $49.95, 274pp., troduce her son sooner to a good friend Yet, as Michael McMenamin and Curt hardbound. (No of hers in New York, where the boys Zoller point out in this hugely readable discount from were stopping en route to Havana. study, some of Winston’s most oft- CBC; available Winston, deeply impressionable, was quoted remarks were first uttered by for as low as bowled over and forever indebted to Cockran, a man of unrivalled eloquence $34.75 on that friend, William Bourke Cockran, a and enormous charm. The earth, he Amazon.com.) charismatic and wealthy former con- would say, “is a generous mother. She gressman. He, in turn, went out of his will produce in plentiful abundance n 1895, a young lieutenant in a cav- way to help this unknown young Eng- food for all her children if they will but Ialry regiment of the British army per- lishman, meeting him at the wharf, of- cultivate her soil in justice and peace.” suaded his superiors to allow him to fering him hospitality at his Fifth Av- Winston once commented that he used travel with a friend to Havana. The enue apartment, and stimulating him to repeat that sentence so often on subaltern had been asked to collect mil- with his talk. Winston wrote to his British platforms that eventually he had itary information on Spain’s attempt to mother that Cockran was one of the to give it a holiday. put down a Cuban revolution, and had most charming hosts and interesting Never, he said later, “was the choice made an arrangement with the Daily men he had ever met. He told her between blessing and curse more vehe- Graphic to publish his war letters, about their deep and wide ranging dis- mently presented to the human race.” signed with his initials: WSC. cussions on every conceivable subject Born in County Sligo in 1854, to a This escapade gave Jennie, the from economics to yacht racing. large family of some means, Bourke newly widowed officer’s mother, who Winston recognised that Cockran Cockran was a devout Catholic. After paid his fare, some mild embarrass- was not only a clever man, but one an education from the Christian Broth- ment. What was a junior British officer from whom much was to be learned. It ers in Ireland and then France, he had doing with the staff of General Suaraz was an introduction of magic. Winston been destined for a life in the church. Valdes, the Spanish commander? When listened to Bourke reading favourite With his leonine head, large frame and interviewed by an American newspaper, speeches aloud, telling his protégé of even larger personality he was a man she insisted that her son was not taking the importance of timing, drama and who could not be ignored. As an orator part in the campaign and that he was sincerity; of giving people the simple he was outstanding with a musical merely on a nine-week leave of absence. truth with clarity and grandeur. They voice, clear diction, wide knowledge ate oysters and hominy together and af- and the trained mind of an experienced Ms. Sebba is the author of Jennie Churchill: terwards the older man sent Winston lawyer and politician. So impressive was Winston’s American Mother (John Murray) some speeches for his comments and he that, according to one contempo- September 2007, also published as American was “profoundly impressed” with his re- rary, “listening to him …was like being Jennie (W.W. Norton) November 2007. sponses. Without a son himself, Cock- transported to the Roman Senate in its

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best days.” Others compared him to inspiration provided by the man who his first visit to the . Their Edmund Burke, or to Charles James had also fired his mother’s dampened meeting grew into a real friendship Fox, to whom he bore a strong resem- spirits. Winston maintained it was between the two men based on trust, blance. Cockran who taught him “to use every kindness, and mutual admiration. They Cockran came to America in 1871 note of the human voice like an organ.” would remain friends until Cockran’s aged seventeen, with £150 in his Even so, he always wished he had a death in 1923. pocket. While supporting himself as a voice like Cockran’s. McMenamin and Zoller, of teacher of French, Latin and Greek, he In 1906 Cockran married his third course, did not “discover” their subject, studied for the bar and soon became wife, Anne Ide, daughter of the Ameri- Cockran’s influence remained relatively prominent in politics as an important can lawyer and Chief Justice of Samoa, unknown throughout Churchill’s life- member of the Democratic Party and . Through Anne, Cock- time—in spite of WSC’s best efforts. of the House of Representatives. When ran acquired an additional relationship Many of the more touching passages in he met Jennie in 1895, thanks to an in- to the Churchill’s as his wife’s sister, this book involves Churchill’s repeated troduction from Moreton Frewen, he, Marjorie, married Shane Leslie. efforts to credit Cockran as the primary like she, was recently widowed follow- It was through this connection, not influence on his oratory and thought. ing the death of his second wife. He the amatory one, that Cockran found But Cockran had faded into obscurity was also a successful lawyer with a himself at the bedside of Jennie by the time of the Second World War, flourishing practice and a man who had Churchill in her dying days twenty-six few took Churchill’s claims seriously. experienced life. When his first wife years after they had met. As Jennie sud- Cockran was first discussed seri- had died in childbirth one year after the denly haemorrhaged following a fall, ously in the official biography that marriage Bourke briefly became a heavy Marjorie produced a baby, Desmond, a began in 1966; later books began to drinker. But then he stopped, never nephew for Cockran’s and a cousin for explore the man and his influence, and drank again. and “in that minute mas- Winston. Martin Gilbert’s Churchill in America tered the impulses of his own passion- This book brings back into the (2006) did critical work on this impor- ate nature—a nature outraged by mis- foreground with power and imagina- tant man. Readers of Finest Hour have fortune, angry against the world.” tion—fictional passages are interspersed been seeing article-length studies of Though there is no proof, the au- with facts where information is thin—a Cockran for quite a few years now. thors believe (as does this writer) that spell-binding rabble-rouser, a man who McMenamin and Zoller, howev- Cockran and Jennie indulged in a tu- deserves to be remembered as one er, give us the first full scholarly study multuous but short lived physical affair whose principles, faith in democracy of Cockran’s life, discussing in detail in Paris in the spring of 1895. But they and oratorical skills were passed on to a his influence in shaping Churchill. parted friends, and the lasting result young man at a critical point in his life, They explore Cockran’s legal career and was Cockran’s influence on Winston, helping to create , especially his role in the U.S. House of who returned to England not merely the leader who in turn inspired millions Representatives, demonstrating that with coffee, cigars and guava jelly but at a critical point in world history. time and time again (and like WSC) Cockran made difficult political choic- es that were morally just but that took a toll on his political career. 2. Because It’s Full of History and Wisdom In spite of the fact that Cockran was continually in and out of office for TED HUTCHINSON more unnecessary books about some most of his adult life (he was probably aspect of Churchill. Most simply retell too scrupulous to be a career politician) here is some rare stuff between familiar stories and recycle old quips. he was generally considered the best Tthe covers of Becoming Winston McMenamin and Zoller do something public speaker in the nation. At the Churchill: material so unusual, so different—almost startlingly strange in pinnacle of his career, in the 1880s and uncommon, that Churchillians should the flood of mediocrity: They tell us 1890s, he was likely one of the most treasure it like a rare gem, or a first something new. famous people in the United States. To edition of Mr. Brodrick’s Army. The Becoming Winston Churchill tells paint Cockran’s portrait anew, book is perhaps even more uncom- of the relationship between young McMenamin and Zoller relied on the mon than such rarities, because it Churchill and the only true male men- old-fashioned concept of hard work, exists in a world of fakes, largely pop- tor he ever had, the Irish-American logging time in archives like the New ulated by books which only pretend to politician and lawyer Bourke Cockran. York Public Library and the Churchill do what it does. The story begins with Cockran and Archives Centre. This is refreshing in Every year sees publication of Churchill meeting in 1895 in New the age of the “quickie” biography, York City. When asked by Churchill’s where an entire book can be written Mr. Hutchinson is Editor of the Journal of mother Jennie, Cockran readily agreed using only the official biography and Law, Medicine & Ethics in Boston. to look out for the young man during the document volumes as sources. >>

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BECOMING WINSTON the Second World War, when there was Much of the fictional material is CHURCHILL... great interest in his oratory. unnecessary and even silly; a typical The authors highlight three key McMenamin and Zoller give but ridiculous quote goes: “Like many areas where the Cockran’s influence on many examples of this influence in the Irishmen, Cockran had two weakness- Churchill was crucial. First, WSC was book, and Chapter 2 especially gives es: strong drink and beautiful women.” heavily influenced in his thinking on the reader a nice collection of speeches (25) This sounds like something out of Free Trade, an idea that would be a delivered by Churchill (particularly on a bad detective novel, and undermines cornerstone political concept of Free Trade) that he essentially cribbed the very fine work done in the rest of Churchill’s for the rest of his life. from Cockran. The dramatic effect of the book. The authors should have Second, they record, Churchill bor- these side-by-side comparisons is con- trusted their voices as historians to tell rowed many of his ideas on “liberty” siderable, and demonstrates both the the story, for when they do that they from Cockran. While “liberty” is a influence Cockran had on WSC’s do an excellent job. word that defies easy definition, the thought and the careful consideration Still, this criticism is minor. This authors feel that both Churchill and and labor that McMenamin and Zoller is an huge and even vital book for any Cockran viewed “liberty” as freedom of put into their book. Churchillian. It is important as a the individual to rise and succeed in The one flaw I found was a stylis- source of new material and new think- life. That is why, they explain, both tic choice which is little more than a ing about Churchill, and as a surpris- Cockran and Churchill supported early matter of taste. The authors chose to ingly tender and gentle way of thinking concepts of the welfare state (as a tool begin each chapter with a “fictional about young people. Every person, no that helped ensure the liberty of all citi- narrative” written by McMenamin. The matter how great, needs mentors, the zens). Later, this grounding enabled idea is to give a larger context to the author’s argue—especially in their Churchill to use the rhetoric of liberty story, and to pass along information youth. By mentoring the young, older when he stood to face Hitler in 1940. not described in the actual material of people can add critical dimensions of But the most obvious influence the book. Most of the “fictional narra- meaning to their lives. McMenamin Cockran had on Churchill was his tives” are based on fact, but in my view and Zoller have proved it by helping to speaking style. Churchill would men- they distract the reader from material resurrect Bourke Cockran. Theirs is a tion this all his life, particularly after of great value that is found within. message we should all take to heart. Two Good Books for the Optional List

TED HUTCHINSON that is the rise and fall of Nazism. rough edges, Harold Macmillan’s well- Olson tells the story well. Her known difficulties are all dealt with in Troublesome Young book is readable and moves briskly; a sympathetic manner. I garnered some Men: The Rebels even if there is little here that can be new insights into the lives of even the Who Brought called new, she makes up for it by a most well-known of them, like Churchill to Power compelling manner. While those well- Macmillan, Eden, Harold Nicholson in 1940 and Helped versed in the story of Churchill and the and Duff Cooper. I was pleased to Saved Britain, by era of the 1930s (including, of course, learn more about lesser-known figures Lynne Olson. readers of Finest Hour) will find little like Ronald Cartland, whom Olson Bloomsbury, 415 that is fresh or profound here, this highlights throughout the book. The pp., $27.50, mem- book can serve as both a serviceable author should be applauded for her ber price $22. introduction to the era and a useful insightful and humane examinations of collection of mini-biographies of these figures. ormer Baltimore Sun reporter Lynne important and interesting Tories. Troublesome Young Men benefits FOlson here tells the familiar tale of It is with these mini-biographies, from the absence, until the last stages Britain’s Parliament in the 1930s, and told within the context of the larger of the book, of Winston Churchill. how a small group of conservative story, in which Olson really shines as a True, Churchill is usually depicted at rebels broke from their party ranks and writer. Her portraits of deeply flawed the center of most anti-appeasement supported tougher measures than the but principled individuals are humane activities in the 1930s. But Olson turns government line to combat the rise of in the very best sense; without apolo- the spotlight away towards those who Adolf Hitler’s Germany. Knowing their gizing or explaining away their various have been less vigorously studied. Most rebellion would almost certainly dam- traits and peccadilloes, she describes of them worked on their own, follow- age their political careers, these how each of the “troublesome young ing their own consciences, and did not Conservatives acted according to con- men” was shaped by and reacted to the simply follow a “leader” like Churchill. science, and have thus won a place as world around them. Anthony Eden’s Olson notes, correctly in fact, that at “good guys” in the great morality tale natural cautiousness, Bob Boothby’s times Churchill could count on few

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MPs other than Duncan Sandys and Brendan Bracken to follow his particu- lar lead. One of the obvious aspects of the book which deserves mention here, is the author’s implicit comparisons between Neville Chamberlain, whom the “troublesome young men” rallied against, and current U.S. President George W. Bush: Using tactics that have striking resonance today, Chamberlain and his subordinates restricted journalists’ access to government sources, badgered the BBC and newspapers to follow the govern- ment line, and claimed that critics of their policies—in both the press and Parliament—were guilty of damaging the national interest. (7) Later, she quotes a contemporary MP: “You were either for the Government or against; there was no half-way house with him.” (26) She concludes that “Chamberlain and his men came to regard any opposition as a lack of patriotism approaching trea- son, and they dealt with it according- ly…Eventually, [a Daily Express corre- spondent remarked], the government’s intolerance developed ‘undertones of totalitarianism.’” (159) Readers may assess these observa- tions themselves, but they lead Olson to conclude that “After Munich, Neville Chamberlain was spoiling for a fight—but not against Germany.” (156) Chamberlain is the exception to my earlier comments about Olson’s sympathy and humanity. He comes off as vain, conceited, arrogant, and quite willing to destroy the careers of honor- able men who stood in his way. The fact remains, however, that Neville Chamberlain tried desperately to avoid war, whatever his ulterior motives for doing so might have been, which con- trasts obviously with the current U.S. president, and thus damages the central metaphor of Olson’s book. (See also Editor’s Essay, page 6.) In spite of the arrogance and incompetence of the Chamberlain gov- ernment, and in spite of the quiet heroics of the anti-appeasers, who

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