Ben P. Sweet: Parallels to Churchill’s rise and that of Trump
I recently viewed the “Darkest Hour,” which was an excellent film centering on Winston Churchill in the darkest days of WWII. He is elected prime minister shortly before the fiasco on the Dunkirk beaches. As the movie portrays, and I believe accurately, his election was none other than extraordinary.
Due to previous missteps, both militarily and politically, Churchill was elected by the slimmest of margins. Members of his own party rejected him and the King of England was less than enthusiastic about his election. Despite this, he immediately implemented a plan to save the troops in Dunkirk (while sacrificing 4,000 in Calais) and subsequently rallied the country with one of the most iconic speeches ever.
Even then his political foes were actively plotting his demise so as to pursue their failed policy of appeasing Hitler. What does this remind you of? While no one will ever confuse President Trump’s tweets with the eloquence of Churchill’s communications, there are many parallels between these two larger-than-life men and the times in which they governed. View the movie and see if you come away with the same impression.
Ben P. Sweet, Modesto
This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Ben P. Sweet: Parallels to Churchill’s rise and that of Trump."