Churchill's Forgotten Mentor

Not many people know that Winston Churchill as a young man had an American mentor who would serve as a major influence on the future legendary British prime minister.

This little studied relationship is explored in a book that was released late this year by Michael McMenamin, a Churchill scholar and partner at the Cleveland law firm Walter & Haverfield LLP.

Scholars in both the United Kingdom and the United States are applauding the book, "Becoming Winston Churchill – The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor," which claims Churchill’s political and economic views — even his speaking style — were greatly modeled after an American lawyer and statesman, William Bourke Cockran. He was his only mentor during Churchill’s 20s. 

The early overseas reviews of the book are glowing. Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge University, writes that it is "a magnificent achievement and an illuminating study of a largely forgotten relationship." Ted Hutchinson, editor of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, called it, "a huge and even vital book, important as a source of new material and new thinking about Churchill."

McMenamin, who chairs the Employment, Media, Education and Competition department at Walter & Haverfield, was the firm’s managing partner for 12 years.
The book is available at online retailers.