Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

The Earl of Halifax
Halifax in 1947
British Ambassador to the United States
In office
23 December 1940 – 1 May 1946
Nominated byWinston Churchill
Appointed byGeorge VI
Preceded byPhilip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian
Succeeded byArchibald Clark Kerr, 1st Baron Inverchapel
Leader of the House of Lords
In office
3 October 1940 – 22 December 1940
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byThomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote
Succeeded byGeorge Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd
In office
22 November 1935 – 21 February 1938
Prime Minister
Preceded byCharles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry
Succeeded byThe Earl Stanhope
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
21 February 1938 – 22 December 1940
Prime Minister
  • Neville Chamberlain
  • Winston Churchill
Preceded byAnthony Eden
Succeeded byAnthony Eden
Secretary of State for War
In office
7 June 1935 – 22 November 1935
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byDouglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham
Succeeded byDuff Cooper
Lord President of the Council
In office
28 May 1937 – 9 March 1938
Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain
Preceded byRamsay MacDonald
Succeeded byDouglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham
Lord Privy Seal
In office
22 November 1935 – 28 May 1937
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byCharles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry
Succeeded byHerbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
In office
1933–1959
Preceded byEdward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Succeeded byHarold Macmillan
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
In office
3 April 1926 – 18 April 1931
MonarchGeorge V
Prime Minister
Preceded byRufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading
Succeeded byFreeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
In office
6 November 1924 – 4 November 1925
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byNoel Buxton
Succeeded byWalter Guinness
President of the Board of Education
In office
24 October 1922 – 22 January 1924
Prime MinisterBonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Preceded byH. A. L. Fisher
Succeeded bySir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
1 April 1921 – 24 October 1922
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byLeo Amery
Succeeded byWilliam Ormsby-Gore
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer
5 December 1925 – 23 December 1959
Preceded byCreated Baron Irwin in 1925
(inherited his father's titles in 1934)
Succeeded byCharles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax
Member of Parliament
for Ripon
In office
10 February 1910 – 5 December 1925
Preceded byH. F. B. Lynch
Succeeded byJohn Hills
Personal details
Born
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood

(1881-04-16)16 April 1881
Powderham Castle, Exminster, England
Died23 December 1959(1959-12-23) (aged 78)
Garrowby, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
(m. 1909)
Children5, including Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax, and Richard Wood, Baron Holderness
Parents
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, TD, PC (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He was one of the architects of the policy of appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1936–1938, working closely with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. After Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938 and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, he was 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 Chamberlain's resignation early in May 1940, Halifax effectively declined the position of prime minister as he felt that Winston Churchill would be a more suitable war leader (Halifax's membership in the House of Lords was given as the official reason). A few weeks later, with the Allies nearing catastrophic defeat and British forces falling back to Dunkirk, Halifax favoured approaching Italy to see if acceptable peace terms could be negotiated. He was overruled by Churchill after a series of stormy meetings of the War cabinet. From 1941 to 1946, he served as British Ambassador to the United States.