History UsefulNotes / HaroldMacmillan

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Mac got on well with UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, seeing himself as a kind of mentor to the young American President.[[note]] JFK's late sister Kathleen had married into Mac's wife's family. Kennedy was known to address him as "Uncle Harold".[[/note]] Just before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he passed a copy of Barbara Tuchman's history book ''The Guns of August'' to Kennedy, with his recommendations. Earlier on he was also friendly with President Eisenhower, the two of them having met DuringTheWar.

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, a later Conservative PM with a reputation for moderation, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver". Ironically on Thatcher's initiative he was created the Earl of Stockton - the last and only hereditary peerage awarded to a non-royal after 1965, and accordingly the last (to date) to a former Prime Minister.[[note]]Thatcher's husband Denis was created a Baronet in 1991, but a baronetcy, though hereditary, is not a ''peerage''.[[/note]] Macmillan is also the last PM to date with facial hair (a moustache). In following another mustachioed PM (Eden), he broke a streak of alternating mustachioed and clean-shaven [=PMs=] which stretched back to 1923.

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, a later Conservative PM with a reputation for moderation, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver". Ironically on Thatcher's initiative he was created the Earl of Stockton - the last and only hereditary peerage awarded to a non-royal after 1965, and accordingly the last (to date) to a former Prime Minister.[[note]]Thatcher's husband Denis was created a Baronet in 1991, but a baronetcy, though hereditary, is not a ''peerage''.[[/note]] Macmillan is also the last PM to date with facial hair (a moustache). In following another mustachioed PM (Eden), he broke a streak of mustachioed [=PM=]s following clean-shaven ones, and vice-versa, which stretched back to 1923.

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, a later Conservative PM with a reputation for moderation, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver". Ironically on Thatcher's initiative he was created the Earl of Stockton - the last and only hereditary peerage awarded to a non-royal after 1965, and accordingly the last (to date) to a former Prime Minister.[[note]]Thatcher's husband Denis was created a Baronet in 1991, but a baronetcy, though hereditary, is not a ''peerage''.[[/note]]

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, a later Conservative PM with a reputation for moderation, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver". Ironically on Thatcher's initiative he was created the Earl of Stockton - one of the few hereditary peerages awarded to a non-royal after 1963, and the last (to date) to a former Prime Minister.

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, a later Conservative PM with a reputation for moderation, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver".

Mac got on well with UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, seeing himself as a kind of mentor to the young American President. Just before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he passed a copy of Barbara Tuchman's history book ''The Guns of August'' to Kennedy, with his recommendations. Earlier on he was also friendly with President Eisenhower, the two of them having met DuringTheWar.

Known as "Supermac" (a nickname coined by cartoonist Victor "Vicky" Weisz as an [[InsultBackfire insult]]), Macmillan's time in office was a prosperous time for Britain, though not without some bumps such as a wage freeze, caused by balance of payments issues. He famously told Britons in 1957 that they had "never had it so good". 1962 saw the "Night of the Long Knives", where eight members of his Cabinet were sacked in one go. The next year saw the Profumo scandal, which can be summarised as "Cabinet minister sleeps with prostitute who is also sleeping with Soviet spy" (or, even more succinctly, as "[[Music/BillyJoel British politician sex]]"); much like the [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate debacle]] in the US a decade later, it was a classic case of MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot. While nowadays this would likely be an embarrassing but not game-changing political scandal, by the standards of [=1960s=] London the scandal and especially Macmillan's initially diffident response was enough to destroy the credibility of his government, all but ensuring that they would lose the following year's general election, and likely making it so that Macmillan would have been forced to stand down even without the incorrect cancer diagnosis.[[note]](In the years since, more than one historian has suggested that Macmillan actually knew well before his resignation that the diagnosis was wrong, but stuck with that excuse anyway just to avoid admitting that he had been forced to resign over the Profumo mess)[[/note]]

Mac got on well with UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, seeing himself as a kind of mentor to the young President. Just before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he passed a copy of Barbara Tuchman's history book ''The Guns of August'' to Kennedy, with his recommendations. Earlier on he was also friendly with President Eisenhower, the two of them having met DuringTheWar.

[[UsefulNotes/PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower Superior Firepower]] in the UK was increased during this time (the Thor missiles were deployed) and the decision was made to buy Polaris from the US. A reluctance to share nuclear secrets with France led to [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle de Gaulle]] vetoing the UK's first attempt to enter the [[UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion EEC]].

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver".

After "You never had it so good" (see above) possibly his best known quote is, "You know, I always thought he looked a bloody fool in men's clothes"; describing Sir Creator/LaurenceOlivier, who had been caught in a police "sting" operation to entrap suspected homosexuals.

Known as "Supermac" (a nickname coined by cartoonist Victor "Vicky" Weisz as an [[InsultBackfire insult]]), Macmillan's time in office was a prosperous time for Britain, though not without some bumps such as a wage freeze, caused by balance of payments issues. He famously told Britons in 1957 that they had "never had it so good". 1962 saw the "Night of the Long Knives", where eight members of his Cabinet were sacked in one go. The next year saw the Profumo scandal, which can be summarised as "Cabinet minister sleeps with prostitute who is also sleeping with Soviet spy" (or, even more succinctly, as "[[Music/BillyJoel British politician sex]]"); much like the [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate debacle]] in the US a decade later, it was a classic case of MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot. While nowadays this would likely be an embarrassing but not game-changing political scandal, by the standards of [=1960s=] London the scandal and especially Macmillan's initially diffident response was enough to destroy the credibility of his government, all but ensuring that they would lose the following year's general election, and likely making it so that Macmillan would have been forced to stand down even without the incorrect cancer diagnosis.

Before entering politics, Macmillan had been a soldier in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, one time, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome reading poetry while waiting to be rescued from no man's land]].

Like UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath, he became somewhat critical of UsefulNotes/Margaret Thatcher, famously making a speech in which he is paraphrased as comparing Thatcher's economic policies to "selling off the family silver".