Churchill was raised in a very typical Victorian upper-class family. Neither of his parents were close, [2] especially his father who lacked confidence in his son's ability to amount to anything in life. He openly feared that Winston would become a "social wastrel." [3] Unfortunately for Winston, before he could even begin to prove this as false, his father died. "Winston spent the rest of his life proving to the ghost of his father that the son was not a prodigal but a prodigy." [4]
In addition to this, Churchill was also haunted by his father's political failure and wished to restore his father's good name. Lord Randolph, a prominent Tory politician, was well on his way to becoming Prime Minister [he was Chancellor of the Exchequer - which is tied with Foreign Secretary to being the next post after Prime Minister], when suddenly, he resigned over a petty disagreement with the Prime Minister.[5] To add insult to injury, Randolph began to suffer numerous public mental breakdowns, including one instance when he could not finish a speech.
To this end, Churchill did two things. First, he wrote a biography of his father. Second, he geared his life toward a political career aiming to not only meet, but exceed, Lord Randolph's accomplishments. He aimed eventually to become Prime Minister.
Thus, like a "young man in a hurry," Churchill started climbing up "the greasy pole" to the Premiership. In 1906, he was appointed at the young age of 31, to be Under-Secretary of the Colonies. From this he swiftly became President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, and First Lord of the Admiralty, in order. Then came World War I, and the disaster at Gallipoli. It had cost Churchill his job, and his reputation would remain soiled for the remainder of his life. He suffered his first setback, and it looked as Randolph Churchill's son had repeated the failure of his father.
