Anthony Eden

The Right Honourable The Earl of Sussex KG MC PC
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)[nb]
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	British 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. ^ Office not filled until 13 July 1962

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.

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.^[1]

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.^[2][3] Two broadly sympathetic biographies (in 1986 and 2003) have gone some way to redressing the balance of opinion.^[4][5] 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".^[5]

1. ↑ Eden, Clarissa 2007. A memoir: from Churchill to Eden.
2. ↑ Rating British Prime Ministers Archived 2006-03-28 at the Wayback Machine 29 November 2004
3. ↑ Churchill 'greatest PM of 20th Century' 4 January 2000
4. ↑ James, Robert Rhodes. 1986. Anthony Eden: a biography.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Thorpe D.R. 2003. Eden: the life and times of Anthony Eden, first Earl of Avon, 1897–1977. London: Chatto and Windus. ISBN 0-7126-6505-6