Robert Anthony Eden

Third son of Sir William Eden, baronet, a Durham landowner, and descendant of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey; attended Sandroyd preparatory school, near Cobham; was educated at Eton College (1911-1915); participated in World War I; commissioned second lieutenant (temporary, 1915); promoted to lieutenant (temporary, 1916), captain (temporary, 1917); received military honors and was appointed youngest brigade-major in the British Army; graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford (1919-1922) with first class degree in Oriental Studies; was elected MP for Warwick and Leamington (1923-1957); Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1926-1929); served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (3 Sep 1931 - 18 Jan 1934) during the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald; was appointed to the sinecure office of Lord Privy Seal (6 Jan 1934 - 7 Jun 1935) to enable him to spend more time for the work abroad; sworn in as a member of the U.K. Privy Council (29 Jun 1934); an exponent of internationalism, he was approved as Minister without Portfolio for League of Nations Affairs (7 Jun 1935 - 23 Dec 1935), a traveling representative of the British government in Geneva; appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (23 Dec 1935 - 22 Feb 1938); resigned from the National Government of Neville Chamberlain because of its appeasement of the Nazis; briefly returned to Chamberlain's government as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (4 Sep 1939 - 14 May 1940); joined the War Cabinet of Winston Spencer-Churchill as Secretary of State for War (12 May 1940 - 23 Dec 1940) but became more effective as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (23 Dec 1940 - 28 Jul 1945) and as Leader of the House of Commons (1942-1945); was again appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (27 Oct 1951 - 12 Apr 1955) in the third administration of Churchill, serving during many world crises, including the Cold War, the Korean War, and British withdrawal from Egypt and the Middle East; was kept waiting in the wings a long time before Churchill resigned in April 1955; appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury (6 Apr 1955 - 9 Jan 1957) also succeeding Churchill as Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party (21 Apr 1955 - 22 Jan 1957); tripled the Conservatives' small majority in the General Election of 1955: Conservative and associates 345, Labour 277, Liberal 6, Sinn Fein 2; became the first prime minister to campaign effectively on television; introduced some unpopular measures: raising indirect taxation and curbing public expenditure; hosted a 10-day visit by the Soviet leaders, Nikita Hruščev and Nikolaj Bulganin (1956); after the Government of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company (26 Jul 1956), his decision to join with France and Israel in a military intervention failed to secure U.S. or Commonwealth support and led to a humbling withdrawal of the Anglo-French force in December 1956; extra pressure on his weakened health led to his resignation (9 Jan 1957); was raised to the peerage (1961) and retired to his manor house in Alvediston, Wiltshire. Biography source: [8]