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Winston Churchill's Speech: Great Men Are Never Good Man?

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“Great men are never good men.” To be great is to be considerably above average in terms of ability, quality or eminence. To the British, Sir Winston Churchill was indeed a great man and he is most well known for rallying and leading them during World War II during his term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, not all of his actions were “ethically sound”, or morally good, possessing and displaying moral virtue, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, even though his intentions were for the good of his people and country. Therefore, I agree with the quote and in this essay I will be evaluating the extent to which some of his decisions and actions were ethical or not. One of the most controversial actions taken by Winston …show more content…

To him, the end would justify the means, and his main aim during his leadership was victory for his country. Churchill once stated in his one of his speeches as Prime Minister: “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror”. In striving for victory for Britain, he had to make decisions that were not ethically sound, and take actions that were not morally right, in order to progress further and be one step closer to his ultimate goal. To many British people, this dedication and motivation of Churchill’s meant that he was a good man, as he only wanted success for his country. However, it was this same motivation that led to the unnecessary and unjustifiable deaths of millions. His motives might have been for the good of his people, but some of his actions taken that would benefit the Europeans meant that other people who were not as favourable to him would have to suffer and bear the consequences of his decisions made his actions as a whole morally wrong. Even though Winston Churchill is viewed as a great man and leader to many because of his successes, his decisions and actions to achieve that goal and get him to that position were not always ethical. Churchill’s leadership might have resulted in a victory, but to quote historian Jörg Friedrich, “this was no heroic victory” and therefore great men are never good

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