Lord Irwin
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The Right Honourable The Earl of Halifax KG OM GCSI GCMG GCIE TD PC |
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The Earl of Halifax in 1947
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| 20th Viceroy and Governor-General of India | |
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In office 3 April 1926 – 18 April 1931 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Reading |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Willingdon |
| Secretary of State for War | |
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In office 7 June 1935 – 22 November 1935 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Hailsham |
| Succeeded by | Duff Cooper |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
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In office 21 February 1938 – 22 December 1940 |
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| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Eden |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Eden |
| British Ambassador to the United States | |
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In office 1940–1946 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| President | |
| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | The Marquess of Lothian |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Inverchapel |
| Leader of the House of Lords | |
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In office 22 November 1935 – 21 February 1938 |
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| Monarch |
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| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | The Marquess of Londonderry |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Stanhope |
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In office 3 October 1940 – 22 December 1940 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Caldecote |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Lloyd |
| Lord President of the Council | |
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In office 28 May 1937 – 9 March 1938 |
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| Prime Minister | Neville Chamberlain |
| Preceded by | Ramsay MacDonald |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Hailsham |
| Lord Privy Seal | |
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In office 1935–1937 |
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| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Londonderry |
| Succeeded by | The Earl De La Warr |
| Chancellor of the University of Oxford | |
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In office 1933–1959 |
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| Preceded by | The Viscount Grey of Fallodon |
| Succeeded by | Harold Macmillan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 16 April 1881 Powderham Castle, Devon, England |
| Died | 23 December 1959 (aged 78) Garrowby Hall, Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow |
| Religion | Anglo-Catholic |
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, TD, PC (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), styled Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1925 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He is regarded as one of the architects of the policy of appeasement prior to the Second World War, although after Hitler's occupation of the rump of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 he was also one of those who pushed for a new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by promising to go to war to defend Poland.
On Neville Chamberlain's resignation early in May 1940, Halifax effectively declined the position of Prime Minister despite widespread support across the political spectrum, as he felt that Churchill would be a more suitable war leader (his membership of the House of Lords was given as the official reason). A few weeks later, with the Allies facing apparently catastrophic defeat and British forces falling back on Dunkirk, Halifax favoured approaching Italy to see if acceptable peace terms could be negotiated, but was overruled by Churchill after a series of stormy meetings of the War Cabinet. From 1941 to 1946, he served as British Ambassador in Washington.
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