Eden, Sir (Robert) Anthony, 1st Earl of Avon

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Eden, Sir (Robert) Anthony, 1st Earl of Avon (1897–1977) British statesman, prime minister (1955–57). He was Britain's youngest foreign secretary (1935). Eden resigned (1938) in protest at the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain. He served again as foreign secretary (1940–45, 1951–55), and succeeded Winston Churchill as Conservative prime minister. Ill health and his mishandling of the Suez Canal Crisis (1956) forced Eden to resign. He was succeeded by Harold Macmillan.

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