Early Government Posts
Churchill was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1900, but he subsequently switched to^{(se pasó a)} the Liberal party and was appointed^(nombrado) undersecretary^{(subsecretario)} for the colonies in the cabinet^(gabinete) of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Under Asquith, he was initially (1908-10) president of the Board of Trade^{(Cámara de Comercio)}, then home secretary^{(Ministro del Interior)} (1910-11), and championed^{(defendió, lideró)} innovative labor exchange and old-age pension^{(pensión de jubilados)} acts. As first lord of the admiralty^{(Ministro de la Marina)} (1911), he presided over the naval expansion that preceded World War I.

Discredited^{(desacreditado)} by the failure^(fracaso) of the Dardanelles expedition, which he had championed^(liderado), Churchill lost (1915) his admiralty post^{(trabajo de almirantazgo)} and served on the front lines in France. Returning to office under Lloyd George, he served as minister of munitions (1917) and secretary of state for war and for air (1918-21). As colonial secretary (1921-22), he helped negotiate the treaty that set up^{(estableció)} the Irish Free State^{(estado libre irlandés)}.

After two defeats^(derrotas) at the polls^{(votaciones, urnas)} he returned to the House of Commons^{(Cámara de los Comunes)}, as a Constitutionalist, and became (1924-29) chancellor of the exchequer^{(~Ministro de Economía)} in Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government. As an advocate of laissez-faire economics, he was strongly criticized by John Maynard Keynes . Churchill was not a financial innovator^{(innovador financiero)}; he basically followed conventional advice^(consejo) from his colleagues. Nevertheless^{(no obstante)}, Churchill's decision to return the country to the prewar gold standard increased unemployment^(desempleo) and was a cause of the general strike^{(huelga general)} of 1926. He advocated^{(abogó por, fue partidario de)} aggressive action to end the strike, and thus earned^{(se gano)} the lasting distrust^{(larga, duradera desconfianza)} of the labor^{(sindicato, trabajadores, laboristas)} movement.


World War II
Out of office from 1929 to 1939, Churchill wrote and remained in the public eye^{(fue objeto del interés público)} with his support for Edward VIII in the abdication crisis of 1936 and with his vehement opposition to the Indian nationalist movement. He also issued warnings^{(emitió advertencias)} of the threat^(amenaza) from Nazi Germany that went unheeded^{(que fueron desatendidas)}, in part because of his past political and military misjudgments^{(juicios, decisiones erróneas)}. When World War II broke out^(estalló) (Sept., 1939), Neville Chamberlain appointed^(nombró) him first lord of the admiralty^{(Ministro de la Marina)}. The following May, when Chamberlain was forced to resign^{(fue obligado a dimitir)}, Churchill became^{(se convirtió en)} prime minister.

Churchill was one of the truly great orators^{(grandes oradores)}; his energy and his stubborn public refusal^{(rechazo público y decidido)} to make peace until Adolf Hitler was crushed^(aplastado) were crucial in rallying^{(concentrar, reunir)} and maintaining British resistance to Germany during the grim years^{(desalentadores, sombríos años)} from 1940 to 1942. He met President Franklin Roosevelt at sea (see Atlantic Charter ) before the entry of the United States into the war, twice^{(dos veces)} addressed^(dirigió) the U.S. Congress (Dec., 1941; May, 1942), twice went to Moscow (Aug., 1942; May, 1944), visited battle fronts, and attended a long series of international conferences (see Casablanca Conference ; Quebec Conference ; Cairo Conference ; Tehran Conference ; Yalta Conference ; Potsdam Conference ).