2-492-425 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Anthony Eden, British Conservative politician, drinking a cup of tea, 1955. Robert Anthony Eden (1897-1977) became Foreign Secretary for the first time in 1935, but resigned in 1938 due to his dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany. He served in Winston Churchill's War Cabinet during the Second World War, initially as Secretary of State for War, then as Foreign Secretary, and accompanied Churchill to the Yalta Conference in 1945. He returned to office when the Conservatives won the 1951 General Election, again serving as Foreign Secretary and also as Deputy Prime Minister. In 1955 he became Prime Minister when Churchill retired, but his premiership saw Britain become embroiled in the Suez Crisis the following year. Eden's reputation as a statesman was diminished by Suez and his health deteriorated, partly due to the stresses of the crisis, and he resigned from office on 9 January 1957.