The high school curriculum focuses on Churchill as one of history's greatest leaders and of the others he regularly interacted with in peace and in war. The political history of the 20th century can be written as the biographies of six men: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The first four were totalitarians who made or used revolutions to create monstrous dictatorships. Roosevelt and Churchill differed from them in being democrats. And Churchill differed from Roosevelt -- while both were war leaders, Churchill was uniquely stirred by the challenge of war and found his fulfillment in leading the democracies to victory. (John Keegan, Time Magazine, April 13, 1998)
High School students look at five such leaders: Attlee, de Gaulle, Stalin, Tito, and Truman. Through each leader, students will understand how power was gained in the 20th century and how Churchill responded to each. Prior to their arrival at the Museum, students will research their assigned leader and determine the type of government each controlled, their leadership style and why the role they played in defining the 20th Century. At the Museum, students will continue in the persona of the leaders, comparing their age and activities to Churchill's and follow his life as it interacts with Churchill's.
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“Leave the past to history especially as I propose to write that history myself.”
