Portraits of Eden
STEDMAN, MURRAY S. Jr.
WRITERS and WRITING Portraits of Eden By Murray S. Stedman Jr. Associate Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College Though prominent on the international stage for more than two decades,...
...These differences are not insignificant...
...Unhappily, neither Mr...
...On the basis of these two biographies, no prediction can safely be made as to how Eden will succeed in solving these and other questions...
...In dealing with many problems of foreign relations, Churchill acted as his own Foreign Secretary, as did the Prime Minister's opposite number, President Roosevelt...
...The Chancellor of the Exchequer, R. A. Butler, was generally considered Eden's most serious competitor...
...While Sir Anthony's career as Prime Minister lies ahead, the two current biographies of him illustrate some of the basic differences between the British and American approach to politics...
...Though not a great orator, he gradually acquired a reputation for accuracy and intelligence...
...So long as he was Foreign Secretary, this did not matter...
...His Parliamentary speeches were not spectacular...
...Eden is a man of many distinctions: youngest Foreign Secretary of modern times...
...For instance, the Prime Minister does not have to perform an immense number of purely ceremonial functions...
...His public statements were vague, and he did not underline any moral lesson at the time...
...Yet, on balance, historians have tended to credit Eden with foresight and Chamberlain with considerable blindness on the issue of predicting the consequences of unchecked Fascist aggression...
...When Churchill again took over the Government, Eden returned as Foreign Secretary...
...There were some Tories who felt that Eden, with Churchill and others, should have led a public crusade on the question of apeasement...
...But one can be sure that his government will approach the facts of political life with intelligence, energy and, above all, maturity...
...The chronic dollar deficit and tariff negotiations, domestic inflation and demands for pay rises, Commonwealth security and colonial difficulties will constitute recurring problems...
...As a boy, he completely mastered French and became proficient at German...
...The Prime Minister can present his program to Parliament with confidence that his party, because it is a majority and is disciplined, will enact the program into law...
...He almost, but not quite, set the record for longest tenure in the Foreign Office...
...Two of his brothers were killed in the war, a fact which may partially explain Eden's lifelong concern with positive programs to prevent warfare...
...He also knows that, in the event of any infirmity to himself, the succession of power will be handled easily, constitutionally and effectively...
...In 1922, he stood for election to Parliament and lost...
...When the war began, a national coalition government was formed...
...In diplomatic experience and as a skilled negotiator (of the classical, not the Dulles, school), he is generally recognized as in a class by himself...
...He became Foreign Secretary for the first time in 1935...
...Broad nor Mr...
...Even his entrance into the office of Prime Minister has been a bit unusual, for the customary path to that position since Salisbury has been by way of the Exchequer...
...Two enterprising authors have just published accounts of Sir Anthony's career to date.* Neither Lewis Broad nor Alan Campbell-Johnson has quite succeeded in personalizing the Queen's First Minister...
...It also appears that Eden was irritated, if not infuriated (he has a very sharp temper and a low boiling point), by Chamberlain's habit of talking to the Italian Ambassador behind the Foreign Secretary's back...
...Occasional part-time assignments from the Yorkshire Post gave him the opportunity for considerable travel...
...Campbell-Johnson is able to throw any new light on this famous controversy...
...Although Eden's resignation from the Chamberlain Government actually occurred over a technical issue, both authors are of the view that policy and personality differences were at the basis of his action...
...He did not blast the Government, the Prime Minister and the party, but confined his critical remarks to his immediate friends...
...Eden then re-entered the Cabinet as Dominions Secretary, and became Foreign Secretary in 1940 under the Churchill Government...
...The Foreign Secretary, on the other hand, insisted on some genuine proof of good faith before resuming negotiations...
...Chamberlain favored very broad negotiations, even though Mussolini had repeatedly shown that no agreement with him was worth the paper it was written on...
...Yet, each presents a well written description of the main points of his life...
...When in 1915 he reached the age of 18, he enlisted and served with distinction for three years in the British infantry in France...
...By background, Eden was ideally fitted for a distinguished career in diplomacy...
...On the basis of evidence available to date, it is not clear exactly how perspicacious Eden was at the time of his resignation...
...Born in 1897 of aristocratic lineage, he began his education at Eton...
...At that time, there was within the British Cabinet a considerable difference of opinion on how to deal with the Italians...
...and they do these things well...
...For example, Eden is a professional politician, not an amateur, not a business man or lawyer on temporary loan...
...Labor's victory in the general election of 1945 relegated him to the Opposition benches...
...When he resigned, Eden did not behave as if he were a frustrated figure-about-Washington...
...Sir Anthony's experience also throws into perspective certain other characteristics of British government which contrast sharply with our own...
...The fact that Eden is now in charge of one of the smoothest-working constitutional mechanisms ever devised does not mean that his government will find the waters untroubled...
...His sweeping victory in the subsequent general election created further demands for biographical data...
...But when, earlier this year, Eden succeeded Sir Winston Churchill as Prime Minister and as leader of the Conservative party, public interest in the details of his life promptly rose...
...only minister to anyone's knowledge who ever took first honors in Oriental languages at the university...
...It is clear from the record, however, that Eden's role was important, e.g., in helping to establish the United Nations...
...For a decade and a half, Eden worked his way up in Conservative circles...
...Associate Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College Though prominent on the international stage for more than two decades, Sir Anthony Eden as an individual has remained relatively little understood...
...For whatever reasons, he did not do this, but operated only within the framework of the Tory party...
...His public record forms part of the basic history of our times...
...That is what the Queen and her family arc paid to do...
...He has been a member of Parliament (from Warwick and Leamington) for more than 30 years...
...In accordance with British custom, he has arrived at the top only after a long apprenticeship...
...However, it was his open break with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in 1938, which really made Eden's reputation...
...youngest adjutant in the British Army...
...The next opportunity presented itself a year later, and this time he won...
...In this capacity, he overnight became a figure known throughout the world...
...Yet, Eden as a man has been something of an enigma...
...The composite picture which emerges from the two books is interesting, even if not in sharp focus...
...Upon return from active duty, Captain Eden entered Oxford, where he applied himself to the study of Oriental languages...
Vol. 38 • October 1955 • No. 41
