Anthony Eden

The Right Honourable The Earl of Avon KG MC PC
Eden in 1942
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 6 April 1955 – 9 January 1957
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Winston Churchill
Succeeded by	Harold Macmillan
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 6 April 1955 – 10 January 1957
Chairman	The Viscount Woolton The Lord Poole
Preceded by	Winston Churchill
Succeeded by	Harold Macmillan
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
De facto 26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Herbert Morrison (de facto)
Succeeded by	Rab Butler (de facto)
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Hereditary peerage 12 July 1961 – 14 January 1977
Preceded by	Peerage established
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
Ministerial offices Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs In office 28 October 1951 – 6 April 1955 Prime Minister 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 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 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 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
Personal details
Born	Robert Anthony Eden (1897-06-12)12 June 1897 Rushyford, County Durham, England
Died	14 January 1977(1977-01-14) (aged 79) Alvediston, Wiltshire, England
Resting place	St Mary's Churchyard, Alvediston
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Beatrice Beckett ​ ​ (m. 1923; div. 1950)​ Clarissa Spencer-Churchill ​ ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	3, including Nicholas (by Beckett)
Parent	Sir William Eden, 7th Bt (father)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Signature
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

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.

Achieving rapid promotion as a young Conservative member of Parliament, he became foreign secretary aged 38, before resigning in protest at Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy.^[1][2] He again held that position for most of the Second World War, and a third time in the early 1950s. Having been deputy to Winston Churchill for almost 15 years, Eden succeeded him as the leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister in 1955, and a month later won a general election.

Eden's reputation as a skilled diplomat was overshadowed in 1956 when the United States refused to support the Anglo-French military response to the Suez Crisis, which critics across party lines regarded as a historic setback for British foreign policy, signalling the end of British influence in the Middle East.^[3] Most historians argue that he made a series of blunders, especially not realising the depth of American opposition to military action.^[4] Two months after ordering an end to the Suez operation, he resigned as Prime Minister on grounds of ill health, and because he was widely suspected of having misled the House of Commons over the degree of collusion with France and Israel.^[5]

Eden is generally considered to be among the least successful of British prime ministers in the 20th century, although two broadly sympathetic biographies have gone some way to shifting the balance of opinion.^[6][7][8] He was the first out of fifteen British prime ministers to be appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in her seventy-year reign.^[9]