Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee (1883-1967), British statesman, who as the head of his country's first majority Labour government, established Britain's welfare state in the years after World War II (1939-1945). Clement Richard Attlee, 1^st Earl Attlee, was born in London and educated at University College, University of Oxford. He began his career as a social-service worker and lawyer and from 1913 to 1922 was a tutor and lecturer in social science at the London School of Economics. During this period he became one of the leaders of the Labour Party, and after 1922 he represented the borough of Stepney, London, in Parliament. From 1935 to 1940, as the head of his party, he was leader of the opposition in Parliament. In the coalition cabinets organized during World War II, Attlee served under Prime Minister Winston Churchill in various posts, including those of lord privy seal, secretary of state for the dominions, lord president of the council, and deputy prime minister. In 1945 he succeeded Churchill as prime minister in a surprising landslide victory. He began to carry out the program of the Labour Party, which included nationalizing the iron and steel industry, the railroads, and the coal mines. He also worked for comprehensive social welfare programs such as nationalizing health care, improving education, and rebuilding housing destroyed by the war. India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Burma (now known as Myanmar) were granted independence. After the Conservative Party won the 1951 elections, Attlee again became the leader of the opposition in Parliament. He resigned as Labour Party head and member of Parliament in 1955. In the same year Attlee was granted an earldom, and in 1956 he was made a knight of the Garter. He wrote As It Happened (1954) and, in collaboration with the British author Francis Williams, Twilight of Empire (1963).