He mobilized a country, saved the Western World, and became a symbol of courage under fire.
But he couldn't hold onto a pound.
So writes author David Lough about Britain's heroic World War II leader, Winston Churchill.
In Lough's new book, No More Champagne, he reveals that Churchill wasn't exactly a financial genius.
He liked to play the ponies, not a great hobby for a guy who ran up huge unpaid tax bills. But maybe he didn't mind because he borrowed money to do it.
He had expensive tastes. In two months in 1949, the household bought $1,006 bottles of wine.
Scrambling to stay ahead of the government and his creditors, he wrote articles and even thought about negotiating film rights to his story about the days leading up to D-Day, according to Money Magazine.
American President and iconic intellectual, Thomas Jefferson, during his life, racked up the equivalent of $1 million to $2 million in debt, owing to his grand projects like the building of his home Monticello.
Although a man of conservative habit, Jefferson also liked his wine and lived above his means.
In modern times, those who ran through millions include entertainers like Michael Jackson, Kim Basinger, Marvin Gaye, Willie Nelson, and Meat Loaf, according to Business Insider.
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