Eden, (Robert) Anthony 
1897 - 1977. 
1st Earl of Avon British 
Conservative politician.

Foreign secretary 1935-38, 1940-45, and 1951-55; prime minister 1955-57, when he resigned after the failure of the Anglo-French military intervention in the Suez Crisis. KG 1954, Earl 1961. Upset by his prime minister's rejection of a peace plan secretly proposed by Roosevelt Jan 1938, Eden resigned as foreign secretary Feb 1938 in protest against Chamberlain's decision to open conversations with the Fascist dictator Mussolini. He was foreign secretary again in the wartime coalition, formed Dec 1940, and in the Conservative government, elected 1951. With the Soviets, he negotiated an interim peace in Vietnam 1954. In April 1955 he succeeded Churchill as prime minister. His use of force in the Suez Crisis led to his resignation Jan 1957, but he continued to maintain that his action was justified.