Robert Menzies (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978) was Prime Minister of Australia from 26 April 1939 to 29 August 1941 (succeeding Earle Page and preceding Arthur Fadden) and from 19 December 1949 to 26 January 1966 (succeeding Ben Chifley and preceding Harold Holt).
Biography[]
Robert Menzies was born in Jeparit, Victoria, Australia in 1894, and he graduated in law from Melbourne University, becoming a successful lawyer from 1918 and receiving the prestigious appointment of a King's Counsel in 1929. He became a member of the state parliament of Victoria as a member of the Nationalist Party of Australia and of the United Australia Party, and was attorney-general and solicitor-general for the state from 1932 to 1934. In 1934, he moved to national politics and was elected to the federal parliament, whereupon he was immediately appointed Attorney-General, while becoming deputy leader of the UAP in 1935. Increasingly frustrated by Joseph Lyons' style of leadership and his grip on power, he resigned from Cabinet on 14 March 1939, but became Prime Minister four weeks later after Lyons' sudden death. Unlike his predecessor, he did not command universal rank-and-file support. Squabbling within the Cabinet and with his coalition partner, the Country Party, led to his defeat at the 1941 elections, against the energetic John Curtin.
After briefly losing the leadership of his party he regained it in 1943, and proceeded to form a new party in 1944 designed to be more avowedly a representative of the middle classes, the Liberal Party of Australia. He led the Liberals to victory in 1949, and subsequently commanded the political center-stage. His leadership role was enhanced by his fierce anti-communism which served him well during the height of the Cold War. His pro-Britishness did not prevent him from furthering closer military ties with the United States, subscribing to its "domino theory" and committing Australian troops to the Korean War and Vietnam War. His credentials in domestic politics were heightened by the post-war economic boom which enabled him to enact many of the welfare proposals of the previous Australian Labor Party governments. At the same time, despite his commitment to ensuring a fair share of the boom for everyone, he was firm in his commitment to a capitalist free market. Meanwhile, his political longevity was underwritten by renewed splits in the Labor Party from 1955. He vastly extended the involvement of the federal state in university education, and was made Chancellor of Melbourne after his retirement from politics, serving from 1967 to 1972. He died in 1978.