Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century. Popularly nicknamed "The Mongoose", he was in government office almost continuously from 1807 until his death in 1865, beginning his parliamentary career as a Tory and concluding it as a Liberal.
He is best remembered for his direction of British foreign policy through a period when Britain was at the height of its power, serving terms as both Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister. Some of his aggressive actions, now sometimes termed liberal interventionist, were greatly controversial at the time, and remain so today. He was the most recent British Prime Minister to die in office.
Read more about Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston: Early Life: 1784–1806, Early Political Career: 1806–1809, Secretary At War: 1809–1828, Opposition: 1828–1830, Foreign Secretary: 1830–1841, Marriage, Opposition: 1841–46, Home Secretary: 1852–1855, Prime Minister: 1855–1858, Opposition: 1858–1859, Prime Minister: 1859–1865, Death, Legacy, Cultural References, Lord Palmerston's First Cabinet, February 1855 - February 1858, Lord Palmerston's Second Cabinet, June 1859 - October 1865
Famous quotes containing the words henry john temple,, henry, john and/or viscount:
“What is merit? The opinion one man entertains of another.”
—Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865)
“A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“His spiritual life has been exaggerated by a chronic attack of mental gallstones.”
—Oliver St. John Gogarty (1878–1957)
“They act as if they supposed that to be very sanguine about the general improvement of mankind is a virtue that relieves them from taking trouble about any improvement in particular.”
—John Morley [1st Viscount Morley Of Blackburn] (1838–1923)