January 24, 1965—Exhausted in mind and body from nearly 60 years of service to his nation,
Sir Winston Churchill, “The Last Lion” who rallied Great Britain to stand virtually alone against Adolf Hitler, died 10 days after a devastating stroke, at age 90.
A state funeral—the first authorized in the 20th century for a commoner—was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral after the body lay in state for three days at the Palace of Westminster. The representatives of 110 nations gathered at the funeral testified to Churchill's immense importance.
If you want a fuller explanation of my view of Churchill’s career, see
this post I wrote on the occasion of his birth. For now, I’d like to consider something else, a matter of far more consuming interest to our health-conscious world than to Churchill’s contemporaries (or, I daresay, to the great man himself): the secret of his longevity.
The revelation comes courtesy of prolific British journalist-historian Paul Johnson, in his new, concise biography,
Churchill. In 1946, about to enter Oxford, the adolescent Johnson asked the statesman, then past 70 years old, to what he attributed his success.
The answer could just as well cover his longevity: “Economy of effort. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.”
Similar words of wisdom were offered by Ronald Reagan, another head of government who managed to live into his 90s. I don’t agree with much of what he stood for while President, but the following observation of his sure rings true: “They say that hard work never hurt anyone, but I say, why take a chance?”
(So what if this is what the
Tower Commission Report, on the Iran-contra scandal, meant when it noted, “President Reagan's personal management style places an especially heavy responsibility on his key advisors”? Details, details!)
Remember all of this as you start your work week, faithful reader…
