Prime Ministers (20th Century), Part 3

1937-55: Neville Chamberlain, Winston S. Churchill, Clement R. Attlee

Baldwin was followed by Tory Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940, PM 1937-40). He is chiefly known for his "appeasement diplomacy" which encouraged Hitler to attempt to take Europe. Chamberlain´s father Joseph was an important late-Victorian politician, his brother Austen was another significant politician early in the 20th century. It was Neville Chamberlain, however, who became Prime Minister. He had held many offices before that, among these the "Chancellor of the Exchequer". As Prime Minister, he was blamed for his diplomacy toward Hitler, but it´s questionable if any other behaviour could have stopped Hitler from his plans. When War broke out in 1939 and Great Britain sided with other Allies against Germany, it turned out that Chamberlain was too weak to lead a nation in War.

Chamberlain stepped back in favour of Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965, PM 1940-45, 51-55), another important, maybe even the most important and significant British leader in the 20th century, who helped to "rescue the free world". British voters "thanked" him by voting for the Labour Party instead at the general election after the war in summer 1945. The people just wanted to get rid of its "War-Ministry" and memories of a horrible time.

Churchill´s autograph is the most expensive one, even though he lived long enough to sign a decent amount of autographs. No doubt, one reason is his historical significance. His signature didn´t change much with the years, he signed his full name "Winston S. Churchill" in early years or when he wasn´t in office, and a short form "W.S. Churchill" when he was in office and in his later years. By the way, there are a lot of preprinted typed "thank you"-letters around which are sometimes offered as "hand-signed". These facsimile-letters were sent out by his secretaries while he was in office, and/or after his birthday (to acknowledge cards and gifts). On these letters, there is no salutation (such as "Dear Sir") and valediction (such as "yours faithfully").  

On the left is the lower half of a letter Churchill wrote in April 1902.

Labour´s leader who headed the government after Churchill was Clement R. Attlee (1883-1967, PM 1945-51, the signature was written in 1964). He, a modest man after "bulldog" Churchill, set the course in many ways which are still effective today, but despite several social improvements he lost the next election and was followed again by Churchill (1951-55).

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