Winston Churchill, a towering figure in history, was known not only for his political prowess and leadership but also for his distinctive lifestyle. His daily routine, dietary habits, and recreational pursuits offer a fascinating insight into the man behind the legend. This article delves into the details of Churchill's diet and lifestyle, exploring his unique habits and how they may have contributed to his remarkable achievements.
Chartwell and a Typical Day
Having purchased Chartwell, his countryside home, in 1922, Churchill found himself daily whiling away the hours as a bricklayer. His literary output was enormous, but when he wasn’t dictating to his teams of secretaries, he was “at peace within my habitation,” laying bricks, digging ponds, sculpting terraces, planting gardens, and painting in oils. It’s one thing to imagine the work he accomplished there, but the sight of it is truly remarkable. The view from the north-east side of Chartwell out over the gardens is spectacular. Churchill's routine and work ethic, even when out of government, display in seed form many of the qualities he would call upon later, when he made history on the world stage.
Churchill was not an early riser, often beginning his day around 8 a.m. He would wake up in his small bedroom, designed strictly for sleeping and working abed, with his specially designed breakfast tray. For many years, regular visitors said they could still detect the faint whiff of his cigars. His "man," David Inches, would shuffle into the room, bringing breakfast. Churchill had a herculean appetite, beginning the mornings with a full English breakfast, often accompanied by meat from the previous night, and sometimes a glass of white wine. As he picked through his tray of food, he perused the morning newspapers. Sometimes he rose, padding over to his beloved Clementine in her separate bedroom, to discuss a startling development. From his battle station, he dictated letters, sipped from a glass filled with water and a trickle of whisky, and read until late morning. Then he bathed-Inches had filled the tub with water at exactly 98 degrees-dressed, and began his day.
Lunch was followed by a walk around the gardens and ponds, cards with family and friends, promptly followed by a nap. His nap was exactly an hour long, done in pajamas and sleeping mask. After his nap and, usually, a second bath of the day, Churchill prepared himself for his second work day, in reverse order. The morning began with work and ended with lunch; the evening began with dinner and finished with work.
Work Ethic and Productivity
Churchill’s daily schedule reveals an essential principle for success: he knows how to get things done. To achieve productivity he operates by two principles. The first he learned from Napoleon, whose bust gazes across the desk in his study: strength of force in the most crucial places. Economy of effort is one of Churchill’s brilliant characteristics. His daily work in bed saves energy for later, when he will often dictate from a stand-up desk, roughly hewn to his own design by a carpenter, placed on a trunk to give it the preferred height. Later his family presented him with a fine mahogany version built by a joiner, which remains there today. When traveling he is even more economical. “Never stand when you can sit down,” he would advise a visitor.
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At Chartwell, he advances his agenda along two thoroughfares, dining and writing. Dining table diplomacy has never been more skillfully executed. Churchill sits for hours after meals, talking with his lunch and dinner guests, and by doing this, he keeps himself solidly in the loop of British affairs. Whether he is keeping tabs on German rearmament or entertaining famous guests, voluble conversation provides him with avenues to British political life at a time when he has a small audience and even fewer true allies.
Boris Johnson has described Churchill as a 100-horsepower mental engine. Between the two world wars, he produced a five-volume memoir of World War I, an autobiography of his early years, a four-volume biography of his great ancestor, the first Duke of Marlborough, several books of essays and speeches, over four hundred articles. Men of genius are often thought to produce with little practice or refinement. Churchill was not this type; he was a tinkerer, a reviser. With some exaggeration, he says he might spend an hour in preparation for every minute of a speech. With relentless energy he perfects his craft.
Known even in the 1930s as a mobilizer of the language, Churchill’s unconventional method of writing is as impressive as his voluminous output. When a great work like Marlborough is unfolding, the ground-floor library at Chartwell is home to a team of research assistants, at work providing every desired fact and resource. Churchill’s energy is now at peak. He paces up and down the length of the room dictating, a hundred beams of light funneled through a prism into a single ray. He is notoriously impatient, even when his mumbling is the source of confusion. There is good reason. On a typical night, he will dictate several thousand words, turning over a word or phrase in an undertone before delivering the version he likes. As the night wears on, Churchill continues his cadence until he is finally satisfied. Not to have achieved something positive and specific, he says, is like going to bed without having brushed one’s teeth.
Dietary Preferences
Churchill was a voracious eater with a penchant for the finer things in life. His culinary preferences leaned towards traditional English dishes. He appreciated traditional English dishes like chicken and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding; kidney pie; beef tenderloin pie; or steaks. He enjoyed a full English breakfast, often accompanied by meat from the previous night.
Dessert was never at the top of Churchill's gourmet agenda, but there was a notable exception in his 79th birthday cake, which was served up in the Cabinet Room. The towering confection was covered in edible sugar book spines, representing the many tomes he'd written when not busy winning wars.
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Churchill also had a fondness for soups, particularly thin, non-creamy varieties. One non-boozy liquid Winston adored was soup; he'd slurp a bowl of cold consommé before bed, even if he'd just returned from a slap-up dinner at The Savoy. Thin, non-creamy soups were what Churchill hankered after - and that applied to turtle soup too. This, he once served up to President Roosevelt, after a Commander Thompson spotted a couple of tins in a Piccadilly grocers, and took the rare commodity back to Number 10. He also adored his Indian curries (so there are plenty of places to commemorate him all across the capital).
He preferred to finish his dinner with cheese, however, he was not enthusiastic about Cheddar, the most popular cheese in the English kingdom; rather, the blue cheese Stilton and Swiss Gruyère were his favourites. The gourmet attached the greatest importance to the fact that cheese that came to his table was not bought just anywhere, but only at a particular fromagerie: "A gentleman only buys his cheese at Paxton & Whitfield," he said. The traditional company still exists and has been one of the court suppliers of the British Royal Family for many years.
Indulgences: Alcohol and Cigars
Alcoholic beverages were at least as important as exquisite food for the sports refusenik. Whether port, brandy, sherry, Champagne or whisky - there was not a day on which Churchill wanted to do without these refreshments. Asked about his drinking habits, Churchill replied in old age: “All I can say is that I got more from alcohol than it got from me.”
Whisky accompanied him from morning till night; even after his opulent breakfast, which he always ate in bed, he drank his first drink and smoked a cigar with it. He never drank whisky straight, but diluted it heavily with soda water and ice cubes. As a young soldier, he got into the habit of drinking this mixture during his missions in India and South Africa - since the drinking water in these countries was not clean, he was advised to dilute it with high-proof alcohol. He also ended his day with such a “mouthwash”, preferring Johnnie Walker Black Label to all other brands. In 1930, the passionate amateur painter created the oil painting ‘Jug With Bottles’, in which a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label can be seen alongside a bottle of brandy.
Champagne was Churchill's greatest weakness (or strength, as he liked to put it). "In success you deserve it and in defeat, you need it," he quipped (yes, Churchill quipped a lot). “Even a single glass of Champagne gives one a feeling of elation,” he noted as early as 1898. Since Churchill did not want to be dependent on the attention of butlers at banquets, he always made sure to have a bottle of Champagne to himself. As with cream soups, Churchill felt distinctly antagonistic toward anything vaguely resembling a cocktail.
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Churchill fell in love with Havana cigars when he was a journalist in Cuba. Back in London, he eagerly put in his first order for imported Cubans at Robert Lewis on St James's Street. Wings tells us that Churchill smoked in the region of 200,000 cigars in his lifetime. Although to be fair, he often chewed rather than puffed; in fact, Churchill would usually slobber through just half a Cuban, before chucking it.
Social Life and Diplomacy
Hosting dinner parties was a forte of Churchill's that ranked alongside his diplomatic skills. But he liked to dine, drink and smoke out, too. The Savoy opened when Churchill was 24, and he was frequenting it soon after. It was at The Savoy that Churchill, along with Lord Birkenhead, formed The Other Club - a political dining society where Winston would glug expensive brandy, shoot the breeze with his compatriots, and according to Cita Stelzer in Dinner With Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table - re-enact battles with salt and pepper shakers for hours at a time. Stelzer's book also includes some fascinating insight into how Churchill had no qualms questioning his bills.
Emulating Churchill's Routine: A Modern Experiment
One individual attempted to emulate Churchill's daily routine for 24 hours, documenting the experience. The day began with breakfast in bed, accompanied by a diluted whiskey and sparkling water. While focusing in the bedroom offered solitude, the individual found drinking early in the morning unsettling.
After class, a stroll around the garden lifted spirits. However, the afternoon proved challenging, involving an expansive lunch and a whole bottle of Champagne. The individual staggered through the meal and then took a siesta, a habit Churchill acquired in Cuba. The nap was intended to boost alertness and ease stress.
The evening included a hot bath for relaxation, followed by dinner. Despite virtual conversations with friends, the individual's family took note of their inebriated behavior. The attempt to work late into the night, as Churchill would, was unsuccessful due to the effects of alcohol.
The individual concluded that while Churchill's routine allowed him to achieve a great deal, it is not necessarily recommended for everyone. However, there are valuable lessons to be learned, such as taking leisure and relaxation time into consideration and creating a routine that one enjoys following.