Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon KG MC PC (12 June 1897–14 January 1977) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was better known throughout his time in office as Sir Anthony Eden. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Sussex
Photograph, 1941–1942
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 6 April 1955 – 9 January 1957
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Winston Churchill
Succeeded by	Harold Macmillan
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955
Prime Minister	Sir Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Herbert Morrison
Succeeded by	Rab Butler (1962)
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 6 April 1955 – 10 January 1957
Preceded by	Sir Winston Churchill
Succeeded by	Harold Macmillan
Personal details
Born	Robert Anthony Eden (1897-06-12)12 June 1897 Windlestone Hall, County Durham, England
Died	14 January 1977(1977-01-14) (aged 79) Alvediston, Wiltshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Beatrice Beckett (m. 1923; div. 1950) Clarissa Spencer-Churchill (m. 1952)
Children	3, including Nicholas
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Military service
Branch/service	United Kingdom Army
Years of service	1915–1919 1920–1923 1939 (as Territorial)
Rank	Major
Unit	King's Royal Rifle Corps Durham Light Infantry
Battles/wars	First World War Battle of the Somme Battle of Messines Battle of Passchendaele Operation Michael Hundred Days Offensive
Awards	Military Cross
Ministerial offices Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs In office 28 October 1951 – 6 April 1955 Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill Preceded by Herbert Morrison Succeeded by Harold Macmillan In office 22 December 1940 – 26 July 1945 Prime Minister Winston Churchill Preceded by The Viscount Halifax Succeeded by Ernest Bevin In office 22 December 1935 – 20 February 1938 Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain Preceded by Sir Samuel Hoare Succeeded by The Viscount Halifax Leader of the House of Commons In office 22 November 1942 – 26 July 1945 Prime Minister Winston Churchill Preceded by Sir Stafford Cripps Succeeded by Herbert Morrison Secretary of State for War In office 11 May 1940 – 22 December 1940 Prime Minister Winston Churchill Preceded by Oliver Stanley Succeeded by David Margesson Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs In office 3 September 1939 – 14 May 1940 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill Preceded by Sir Thomas Inskip Succeeded by The Viscount Caldecote Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal In office 31 December 1933 – 7 June 1935 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald Preceded by Stanley Baldwin Succeeded by The Marquess of Londonderry Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs In office 3 September 1931 – 18 January 1934 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald Preceded by Hugh Dalton Succeeded by The Earl Stanhope
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal In office 12 July 1961 – 14 January 1977 Hereditary Peerage Preceded by Earldom created Succeeded by The 2nd Earl of Avon Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington In office 6 December 1923 – 10 January 1957 Preceded by Ernest Pollock Succeeded by John Hobson
n.b. ^

Eden was one of the best-known politicians of his generation. He was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1935 by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, and resigned in 1938 in protest at Chamberlain's appeasement of Adolf Hitler. He was Churchill's Foreign Secretary during World War II, and again in 1951–1955.

He had an operation to remove gallstones in 1953. The operation went wrong, and his health was ruined. He became Prime Minister in 1955 when Winston Churchill retired. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1957, and Harold Macmillan replaced him. The Suez Crisis of 1956 was a critical period. This and his health led up to his resignation as Prime Minister. Eden died of liver cancer, aged 79. His widow, Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, was born in 1920 and died in 2021. She was a niece of Winston Churchill.

Eden's life can be described in two halves. The first half, in the 1930s and in wartime, was brilliant. But he is often ranked among the least successful British Prime Ministers of the 20th century. Two broadly sympathetic biographies (in 1986 and 2003) have gone some way to redressing the balance of opinion. D.R. Thorpe says the Suez Crisis "was a truly tragic end to his premiership, and one that came to assume a disproportionate importance in any assessment of his career".

Biography

Born into an aristocratic family.

He volunteered for the British army at the beginning of the First World War, participated in the fighting in France.

In 1919—1922 he was a student at the Faculty of Oriental Languages at Oxford, graduating with honors.

From 1945 to 1973 he served as rector of the University of Birmingham.

In 1961, he received the title of count.

Eden had three sons. The elder and middle sons died before him. His Earl of Avon title was inherited by the younger son, Nicholas. When Nicholas died, the title became extinct.

Political career

Member of the House of Commons from 1923 to 1957.

From 1935 to 1938 (Baldwin's cabinet) Minister of Foreign Affairs. He resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chamberlain's cabinet on February 20, 1938, due to disagreement with the Prime Minister's policy of "appeasement" towards Italy and Germany.

He served as Foreign Minister in Churchill's military government (1940—1945), was considered Churchill's successor, but distinguished himself primarily as Foreign Minister in the war. Leader of the House of Commons from 1942 to 1945.

After Labor's election victory in July 1945, he was Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

From 1951 to 1955 Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister.

After Churchill's resignation in 1955, he was appointed prime minister. His premiership turned out to be short-lived and unsuccessful, both from a foreign policy point of view (the Suez crisis of 1956, which ended catastrophically for Great Britain), and from a domestic political point of view (he had to resign after mass protests by the population and cede leadership in the party to Macmillan).

Anthony Eden Media

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  Eden with French Prime Minister Léon Blum in Geneva in 1936

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  Eden with Mackenzie King and Winston Churchill meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Quebec Conference in 1943.

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  Potsdam Conference: The Foreign Ministers Vyacheslav Molotov, James F. Byrnes and Anthony Eden, July 1945.

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  Negotiations in London and Paris in 1954 ended the allied occupation of West Germany and allowed for its rearmament as a NATO member.

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  Geneva Conference, 21 July 1954. Last plenary session on Indochina in the Palais des Nations.

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  Tomb at St Mary's church, Alvediston, Wiltshire

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  Portrait by William Little, c. 1945

References

1. REDIRECT Template:Prime ministers of the United Kingdom