Sir Anthony Eden and his pre-Prime Ministerial Career
There were few Prime Ministers who, before getting the top job, were as experienced as Anthony Eden. Eden was given a military cross during World War I, rising up the ranks of the British military despite his youth, being aged 17–21 during the war.
He was an MP for 32 years and a cabinet minister for 14 years before becoming Prime Minister; none of his successors were more experienced than him. Only Churchill of the post-war Prime Ministers was more experienced.
Eden had also served as Foreign Secretary for 12 years in essential periods:
- 1935 – 1938, under Neville Chamberlain.
- 1940 – 1945, in Churchill’s coalition government during WW2.
- 1951 – 955, under Churchill again.
His pre-Prime Ministerial career was long and successful.
Ironically, a foreign policy crisis (The Suez Canal Crisis) led to the downfall of someone with the most experience in foreign affairs of any Prime Minister. Even disregarding his time as Foreign Secretary, he had served in Foreign Policy based roles for a decade:
- Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office (1925 – 1926)
- Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary (1926 – 1929)
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1931 – 1934)
- Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1939 – 1940)
- Secretary of State for War (1940)
Eden was popular with the Conservative party and the public, winning a greater percentage of the popular vote (49.7%) in the 1955 General Election than any other post-war Prime Minister.
Even after Suez, not only did he remain popular, but most of the public supported his approach to Egypt despite his failure. While it was later viewed as a complete and utter disaster, this was partial because of the US reaction to it, (which they probably later reacted, as they underestimated Colonel Nasser’s ability to spread his and facilitate the spread of Soviet influence into the Muslim world). Also, because of the opportunism of Harold MacMilan, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time and was hawkish regarding Nasser, after Suez failed he saw the opportunity to oust Eden and secure the top job for himself. To be fair to MacMilan he did a much better job as Prime Minister than Eden, reviving the ‘special relationship’ and leading the Conservatives to a thumping victory at the 1959 election.
Even if Eden had survived Suez, he had no experience working in roles focused on domestic policy or the British economy; he was also seen as lacking the ‘common touch’, being a bit shy and was also ill during his premiership. Which meant he wasn’t exactly the ideal Prime Minister.
The Times said of Eden in 1955:
He is Britain’s best-informed diplomat, its most seasoned negotiator. Yet his career has been a narrow one that lacks the human breadth of a Churchill’s, a Truman’s, or an Eisenhower’s. Eden has seldom strayed beyond the polished confines of Westminster and Whitehall, and his public sense does not derive from an easy personal acquaintance with the common man.
Unfortunately for Eden, the comparison with Churchill is unavoidable. However, while much of Churchill’s career was spent on the military and the Empire, when compared with Eden, he was also very experienced within domestic politics, having held the posts of:
- President of the Board of Trade (1908 – 1910)
- Home Secretary (1910 – 1911)
- Chancellor of the Exchequer (1924 – 1929)
Which by itself would make someone a reasonable well qualified candidate to be Prime Minister.
