Harold Macmillan

In April 1920, Harold Macmillan married Lady Dorothy Cavendish, who belonged to a respected British royal family from Devonshire.

Dorothy started an affair with ‘Conservative’ politician Robert Boothby. The affair began in 1929, and when Harold wanted to divorce his wife, his political mentors suggested that it would create a bad impression on the public.

Thus, Harold did not divorce her. They lived separately for most of their married life. The couple had four children.

Harold Macmillan was born Maurice Harold Macmillan, on February 10, 1894, in Chelsea, London, UK. His father, Maurice Crawford Macmillan, worked as a publisher. His mother, Helen Belles, was an artist and a socialite. He was the youngest child in the family and had two elder brothers.

Their family business, ‘MacMillan Publishing,’ was founded by Harold’s grandfather, Daniel Macmillan.

Both his parents were scholars. The family ensured their children received top-notch education. While his father was mostly busy with the family business, Harold’s mother took care of his education.

Harold initially attended ‘Mr. Gladstone’s Day School’ and then joined ‘Summer Fields School.’ He also attended ‘Eton College,’ a boarding school, but was often plagued with serious illnesses such as pneumonia. During his final year at the school, he was homeschooled by the teachers.

As a teenager and an adult, Harold was a keen admirer of liberal politicians such as Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was the prime minister of UK when Harold was growing up.

Harold served in the World War as one of the grenadier guards in early 1915. He fought for UK in France, which was known as the most dangerous war zone back in those days. The zone had a high casualty rate.

During the course of the war, Harold was wounded thrice. He was once fatally wounded. Harold spent most of the first two years of the war in hospitals, recovering from his wounds.

When the World War was at rest in November 1918, Harold was still recovering from his war injuries. During those years, Harold grew as an effective leader and openly criticized nationalist leaders such as Rab Butler and Harold Wilson, as they did not participate in any military service when the country was at war.

He ventured into politics once the war was over. He then contested as a member of parliament (MP) from Stockton-on-Tees in 1924. After a one-sided election, Harold became the MP from the zone. He spent a lot of money for the campaign.

He became the MP despite the troubles, but he could not continue in the next elections. His zone was suffering from a high level of unemployment, which cost him his seat in the parliament. However, when the new candidate resigned in 1931, Harold got his seat back.

In the mid-1950s, the UK faced the ‘Suez’ debacle that led to the end of the political careers of many British statesmen. However, Harold’s political understanding had him reaping benefits out of it, despite the fact that he had also been responsible for the debacle.

The erstwhile prime minister, Anthony Eden, decided that resignation was the best course of action in such circumstances, and he subsequently resigned. Harold Macmillan emerged as the top candidate for the job. He became the prime minister on January 10, 1957.

His liberal mindset and his anti-appeasement policies quickly made him a respected leader of the country. He made up for the financial losses suffered by the ‘Conservative Party’ during the ‘Suez’ debacle. He also led his party in the 1959 general elections and made sure that his party had the upper hand in the parliament.

He supported the decolonization of Africa. He embarked on a historical tour called the ‘Winds of Change Tour’ across Africa in 1960. In the early 1960s, he made several popular speeches on the virtues of independence and granted freedom to several African countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Uganda.

However, The prime ministerial seat was not a bed of roses. His second term was plagued with several crises. The ‘Conservative Party’ was shaken after Britain’s application to the ‘European Economic Community’ (EEC). The party could not take this blow and split up soon.