Attlee, Clement

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Attlee, Clement (1883–1967) British primeminister at the end of World War IIClement Attlee replaced Winston Churchill asprime minister of the United Kingdom in July1945, after leading his Labour Party out of thecoalition with the Conservatives and achieving alarge parliamentary majority. He served as primeminister until October 1951. Thus, Attlee was atthe helm of British government as the war in thePacific came to an end and during the immediatepostwar years.Born in London to a well-to-do solicitor, Attleereceived an education that culminated in a lawdegree from Oxford. He began practicing in 1905but left the law in 1909. Beginning in 1905, Attleebecame involved in volunteer work in the slums ofLondon, an experience that profoundly liberalizedhis social and political outlook. His new-foundsocialist leanings prompted him to join the FabianSociety in 1907 and the Independent Labour Partyin 1908. Except for service in World War I, he livedand worked in the London's slums for the next 15years, becoming mayor of the Cockney borough ofStepney in 1919 and gaining election to Parliamentas the member from Limehouse in 1922. He wasnamed undersecretary of state for war in the firstLabour government in 1924 and in 1927 wasappointed to the Indian Statutory Commission.Attlee broke with the administration of RamsayMacDonald after MacDonald brought the LabourParty into coalition with the Conservative Partyand the Liberal Party in 1931. Attlee succeededGeorge Lansbury as leader of the Labour Party in1935 and aligned the party in opposition to fascism,but was reluctant to embrace rearmament.Nevertheless, Attlee fully supported the Britishdeclaration of war against Germany in 1939.By refusing to join a coalition governmentunder Conservative prime minister Neville Chamberlain,Attlee effectively forced Chamberlain'sreplacement by Winston Churchill, who appointedAttlee to his war cabinet as lord privy seal. In 1942,he was named deputy prime minister and secretaryof state for Dominion affairs and in 1943 addedlord president of the council to his duties. Attleefaithfully supported Churchill throughout the war,but, after victory over Germany, he led his partyout of the coalition, presided over a major parliamentarysweep, and replaced Churchill as primeminister in July.Attaining the prime minister's post at the endof the war, Attlee had virtually no influence overAttlee, Clement 133the course of combat. However, he was a primaryarchitect of postwar Britain and oversaw thenationalization of the coal, railways, gas, and electricityindustries as well as the creation of theNational Health Service, among other socialreforms. Despite his leftward leanings, Attlee was astrong proponent of defense and an opponent ofSoviet expansion. Accordingly, he was a primemover behind the creation of the North AtlanticTreaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and readilycommitted British troops to the Korean War in1950. While he oversaw the beginning of the end ofthe British Empire, including the creation of anindependent India in 1947, Attlee also presidedover a substantial rearmament program. After theLabour Party's defeat in 1955, Attlee resigned asparty leader, was created an earl, and elevated tothe House of Lords, in which he served until hisdeath in 1967.