- In full:
- Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden
- Born:
- Feb. 10, 1894, London, Eng.
- Died:
- Dec. 29, 1986, Birch Grove, Sussex (aged 92)
- Political Affiliation:
- Conservative Party
- Role In:
- Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
- On the Web:
- History Today - The Macmillan Years (Nov. 08, 2026)
Harold Macmillan
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Who was Harold Macmillan?
Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) was a British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963.
Macmillan entered politics after distinguishing himself in combat during World War I. He served in the House of Commons from 1924 to 1929 and again from 1931 to 1964. During World War II, he served in the coalition government and later as British minister resident at Allied Forces Headquarters.
After the war, Macmillan held various positions, including minister of housing and defense under Winston Churchill, and later as foreign secretary and chancellor of the Exchequer under Anthony Eden. He succeeded Eden as prime minister in 1957. Macmillan focused on improving British-U.S. relations and supervised foreign policy, holding conferences with Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and visiting Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow. The Conservative Party, led by Macmillan, achieved a significant victory in the 1959 general election.
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When did Harold Macmillan serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom?
Harold Macmillan served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1957 to October 1963. Appointed on January 10, 1957, following the resignation of Anthony Eden, Macmillan addressed a national money shortage and worked to improve British-U.S. relations. He led the Conservative Party to victory in the 1959 general election. Despite facing setbacks such as the French veto of Great Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community and the Profumo affair, he achieved the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in July 1963. After surgery, Macmillan resigned on October 18, 1963.
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What political party did Harold Macmillan belong to?
Harold Macmillan, who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1957 to October 1963, belonged to the Conservative Party. He was elected leader of the Conservative Party on January 22, 1957. Macmillan's tenure saw him navigate the political landscape following the Suez Crisis, strengthen ties with the United States, and lead the Conservatives to victory in the 1959 general election.
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What was the main focus of Harold Macmillan's policies as prime minister?
As prime minister, Harold Macmillan focused his policies on domestic and international issues. He aimed to improve Britain's relationship with the United States, strained after the Suez Crisis. Macmillan supervised foreign policy, holding conferences with presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and visiting Nikita S. Khrushchev in Moscow.
At home, he supported Britain's social programs and led the Conservative Party to victory in 1959, contrasting prewar unemployment with postwar full employment, summarized by the slogan, "You've never had it so good". Later in his term, an adverse balance of payments led to wage freezes and deflationary measures, causing his government to lose popularity.
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How did Harold Macmillan handle international relations during his time as prime minister?
During his time as prime minister, Harold Macmillan navigated complex international relations, including decolonization and nuclear strategy. Macmillan aimed to sustain Britain's global influence amidst economic constraints and the rise of superpowers.
Macmillan worked to improve British-U.S. relations, strained by the Suez Crisis, leveraging his rapport with President Eisenhower. He engaged in conferences with Eisenhower and Kennedy and visited Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow. The Nassau agreement (1962) secured nuclear missiles from the U.S. for British submarines, angering Charles de Gaulle and leading to France's veto of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community.
Macmillan's government also oversaw the climax of decolonization, granting independence to several African colonies, signaling a shift in British foreign policy.
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Why is Harold Macmillan remembered as an important leader in British history?
Harold Macmillan served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Macmillan, who had a distinguished military record from World War I, entered politics in 1924, condemning British appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. During his time as prime minister, Macmillan worked to improve British-U.S. relations, which had been strained by the Suez crisis. At home, he supported Britain’s array of postwar social programs and led the Conservative Party to victory in the 1959 general election, campaigning on Britain’s postwar full employment with the slogan, “You’ve never had it so good."
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Harold Macmillan (born Feb. 10, 1894, London, Eng.—died Dec. 29, 1986, Birch Grove, Sussex) was a British politician who was prime minister from January 1957 to October 1963.
The son of an American-born mother and the grandson of a founder of the London publishing house of Macmillan & Co., he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He distinguished himself in combat during World War I and entered politics after the war. He sat in the House of Commons from 1924 to 1929 and from 1931 to 1964. When Winston Churchill formed his World War II coalition government (May 1940), Macmillan, who had bitterly condemned British “appeasement” of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Supply. After 10 months as colonial under secretary, he was sent (Dec. 30, 1942) to northwest Africa as British minister resident at Allied Forces Headquarters, Mediterranean Command. There his efforts to secure good relations with Dwight D. Eisenhower, Charles de Gaulle, and other high Allied officers improved his skills as a politician.
At the end of the war in Europe, Macmillan was secretary of state for air in Churchill’s “caretaker” government (May–July 1945). After the Conservatives regained power in 1951, he was successively appointed minister of housing and local government (October 1951) and minister of defense (October 1954) by Churchill and then served as foreign secretary (April–December 1955) and chancellor of the exchequer (1955–57) under Sir Anthony Eden. He was appointed prime minister on Jan. 10, 1957, following the resignation of Eden in the wake of the Suez crisis, and was elected leader of the Conservative Party 12 days later.
Macmillan immediately had to deal with a national shortage of money, and his chancellor of the exchequer, Peter Thorneycroft, resigned (January 1958) in protest against government spending. Macmillan worked to improve British-U.S. relations, which had been strained by the Suez crisis, and his old partnership with General, now President, Eisenhower was helpful in this regard. Macmillan himself supervised the conduct of foreign policy as prime minister. He had several conferences with presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, and he visited Nikita S. Khrushchev in Moscow (February 1959). At home, Macmillan gave firm support to Britain’s array of postwar social programs. He led the Conservative Party to a resounding victory in the 1959 general election by effectively contrasting Britain’s prewar unemployment with its postwar full employment under the slogan “You’ve never had it so good.”
The Nassau agreement (December 1962) between Macmillan and Kennedy, that the United States should furnish nuclear missiles for British submarines, enraged Charles de Gaulle, who then was head of the French state and who insisted on a Europe uncontrolled by the United States. The subsequent French veto (Jan. 29, 1963) of Great Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community was a severe blow to Macmillan. For most of his term Macmillan had been held in high esteem by his party. But Britain’s adverse balance of payments led the government to impose a wage freeze and other deflationary measures from 1961 on, and this caused Macmillan’s government to lose popularity. Another setback was an apparent Soviet espionage attempt involving John Profumo, the secretary of state for war, which ended in the latter’s resignation (June 1963), all part of a sex scandal that became known as the Profumo affair. Macmillan’s reputation was partly rehabilitated by the successful negotiations (July 1963) among Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union for the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, but demands continued within his own party for a new and younger leader, and, after undergoing surgery, he resigned his office on Oct. 18, 1963.
Macmillan refused a peerage and retired from the House of Commons in September 1964. He then began producing his memoirs: Winds of Change, 1914–1939 (1966); The Blast of War, 1939–1945 (1967); Tides of Fortune, 1945–1955 (1969); Riding the Storm, 1956–1959 (1971); Pointing the Way, 1959–1961 (1972); At the End of the Day, 1961–63 (1973); and The Past Masters: Politics and Politicians, 1906–1939 (1975). He later accepted a peerage and was created an earl in 1984.