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Prime Minister Winston Churchill Outside Number 10 Downing Street, May 1940

"… on the night of the tenth of May (1940) … I acquired the chief power of the State … I was conscious of a profound sense of relief. At last I had the opportunity to give directions to the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial. Eleven years in the political wilderness had freed me from ordinary party antagonisms … I thought I knew a good deal about it all, and I was sure I should not fail. Therefore, although impatient for the morning I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams." ("The Gathering Storm", Volume I, The Second World War, the memoirs of Winston S. Churchill)