Anthony Eden was a British statesman who served for many years as foreign secretary before a brief, ill-fated premiership that was destroyed by the Suez Crisis. Born into the English gentry and educated at Eton and Oxford, he served with distinction in the First World War before entering Parliament as a Conservative.
Eden rose quickly as a specialist in foreign affairs, and his reputation was made in the 1930s when he resigned as foreign secretary in protest at Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasing the dictators — a stand that aligned him with Winston Churchill. During the Second World War he again served as Churchill's foreign secretary, becoming the great man's trusted lieutenant and presumed heir.
He waited long in Churchill's shadow, serving once more as foreign secretary in the postwar years, and finally succeeded him as prime minister in 1955.
His premiership was wrecked within a year by the Suez Crisis of 1956. When Egypt's President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, Eden joined a secret plan with France and Israel to seize it by force. The invasion provoked international condemnation, a collapse of the pound, and decisive opposition from the United States, forcing a humiliating withdrawal that exposed the limits of British power. Broken in health and reputation, Eden resigned in 1957. He died in 1977.