Family Portrait: Churchills at Drink

Many British politicians have been heavy drinkers. Winston Churchill was certainly among them, but his drinking was more an expression of his personality than of his occupational environment. The root of his drinking was the life-long depression caused by the coldness of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, himself a heavy drinker. Winston Churchill's heavy drinking was in turn reflected by that of three of his children, Diana, Sarah, and Randolph, all of whom lived and died in sad circumstances. The most helpful background for visualizing Winston Churchill at drink would therefore be his family circle, not his fellow politicians, except for F. E. Smith, his chief drinking companion. Assembling that family circle might have been difficult.