In Volume V of Martin Gilbert’s monumental biography of Churchill (Winston S. Churchill: The Prophet of Truth: 1922-1939), we learn that an enormous poster appeared in the Strand and at other prominent points around London in the last week of July 1939. Placed by an advertising agent who was anxious “to get people thinking of the reinstatement of Churchill,” the poster asked simply: “What price Churchill?” (A photograph of the poster can be seen here.) On July 25, 1939, the Daily Mirror noted: “The writing on the wall? This giant poster is causing considerable comment.”
At the time the poster was mounted, Churchill was a parliamentary backbencher reviled by the Tory government and studiously passed over for any significant position in the Cabinet. The message intended by the inspired citizen who commissioned the poster was something to the effect: “What do we have to pay to get this guy on the case?”
Larry Snelling is the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Deparement. He has held the office since September 2023. In the video below Snelling denounces the illegal mistreatment of ICE officers and instructs citizens how to comply with applicable law.
Snelling’s exhortation puts me in mind of that Churchill poster. In the video he presents a striking contrast with Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara — something like the contrast between Churchill and Chamberlain in 1939.
