On 5 April 1955, Churchill stood down as both Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party. This speech was broadcast on the day of his retirement by the leader of Liberal Party, Herbert Samuel. An annotated copy such as this would have served as an aide to speech, with scored and underlined segments reminding Samuel of points at which he should pause, or of words and phrases that required particular emphasis. In the final portion of the speech, Samuel compares Churchill to a number of Shakespeare's most iconic speech makers, including Henry V and Jacques from ‘As You like It'.

Churchill's achievements during the Second World War continued to earn him international acclaim even after his retirement as Prime Minister, and in 1958 he was awarded the French ‘Ordre de la Libération' (Order of Liberation) for his part in bringing about the end of French occupation. Churchill was also awarded an honorary American citizenship during this period, and was the first person to receive this honour in U.S. history.