About
Michael F. Bishop is a political and nonprofit professional, historian, and freelance writer.
From 2019-2021, he served as a consultant in the Office of the Chairman at the National Endowment of the Humanities.
Previously, he was director of the National Churchill Library and Center at the George Washington University and executive director of the International Churchill Society. He established the Library as a vibrant center of Churchillian activity, hosting a number of distinguished leaders in the fields of politics, the military, journalism, and history to discuss the continuing relevance of Churchill's legacy for live and television audiences. He also organized the successful 34th and 35th International Churchill Conferences in New York and Williamsburg, Virginia. He worked closely with the cast and producers of Darkest Hour, the Oscar-winning film about the perilous first weeks of Churchill's premiership.
His reviews and articles on Churchill, Lincoln, World War I, and British and Irish politics and history appear in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Review, and elsewhere. He is the ghostwriter of a series of historical works, the most recent of which was a New York Times bestseller. He is currently writing--under his own name--WE SHALL FIGHT: CHURCHILL'S GREATEST SPEECH for HarperCollins.
Michael spent much of his early career in politics, serving in several positions on Capitol Hill and in the White House. He was corporate communications manager at Strategic Investment Group, a leading provider of outsourced chief investment office services. He is the former executive director of the congressional Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and served as a consultant on Lincoln, the Steven Spielberg film. He serves on the board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute.
Michael was educated at the University of California at Berkeley, the George Washington University, and Georgetown University. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Featured Work
We Shall Fight: Churchill's Greatest Speech
We Shall Fight will explore the extraordinary circumstances that inspired what the distinguished biographer Andrew Roberts, in Churchill: Walking with Destiny, called “a speech which ranks alongside those of Pericles and Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest addresses of history.”
It will tell the tale of a controversial politician distrusted by his party who had just spent a decade in the political wilderness, and whose judgment was questioned by many who knew him best. His appointment as Prime Minister was the result not of an election but of a parliamentary coup, and his initial appearances in the House as PM were met with cool silence. But the speech on 4 June 1940 would stiffen the sinews of his colleagues and his countrymen, and signal to the United States that Britain would not fold in the face of the German war machine. Indeed, it could be said that Churchill truly became Prime Minister not on the 10th of May upon his appointment by the King, but on the 4th of June upon his acclamation by the nation.
Churchill’s greatest speech, with its pledge to “fight on the beaches”, inspires people around the world, provides a masterclass of political rhetoric, and is an ideal and accessible introduction for readers to the life and continuing importance of the 20th century’s most important leader.
