Harold Macmillan was born in London. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford. He served with distinction in WW I, being wounded on three occasions. Elected to the House of Commons in 1924 for Stockton-on-Tees, he lost his seat in 1929 only to return in 1931. In the 1930s he was stuck on the backbenches, his leftish ideas and sharp criticism of Baldwin and Chamberlain served to isolate him. In WW II he was part of the wartime coalition government, he worked with the Ministry of Supply before being sent to North Africa in 1942 as British government representative to the Allies in the Mediterranean.
He returned to England post-war and after the massive electoral defeat of 1945. When the Conservatives regained power in 1951 he was minister of housing (October 1951) then minister of defense (October 1954) under Winston Churchill and foreign secretary (April-December 1955) and chancellor of the exchequer (1955-57) under Anthony Eden. When Eden resigned in January 1957 he was succeeded by Macmillan on the 10th and Macmillan also became leader of the Conservative Party (22nd).
Macmillan also took close control of foreign policy. He worked to narrow the rift post-Suez with the U.S., where his wartime friendship with Eisenhower was useful, and the two had a pleasant conference in Bermuda as early as March 1957. The better relationship remained after the ascent of Kennedy. Macmillan also saw the value of a rapproachment with Europe and sought belated entry to the European Economic Community (EEC) as well as exploring the possibility of a European Free Trade Area (EFTA). In terms of the Empire Macmillan continued the divestment of the colonies, his "wind of change" speech (February 1960) indicating his policy. Ghana and Malaya were granted independence in 1957, Nigeria in 1960 and Kenya in 1963. However in the Middle East Macmillan ensured Britain remained a force - intervening over Iraq in 1958 and 1960 as well as becoming involved in Oman.
He led the Conservatives to victory in the October 1959 general election, increasing his party's majority from 67 to 107 seats. The election campaign had been based on the economic improvements achieved, the slogan "Life's Better Under the Conservatives" was matched by Macmillan's own remark, "most of our people have never had it so good" usually paraphrased as "You've never had it so good." The actual growth rate, compared to the rest of Europe, was weak and marked a relative decline distorted by high defence expenditure.
Following the technical failures of a British independent nuclear deterrent with the Blue Streak and the Blue Steel projects, Macmillan negotiated the supply of American polaris missiles under the Nassau agreement in December 1962. Previously he had agreed to base sixty Thor missiles in Britain under joint control, and since late 1957 the American McMahon Act had been eased to allow Britain more access to nuclear technology.
Macmillan was a major force in the successful negotiations leading to Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet Union signing the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1962. His previous attempt to create an agreement at the May 1960 summit in Paris had collapsed due to the Gary Powers affair.
Britain's application to join the EEC was vetoed by Charles de Gaulle (January 29, 1963), in part due to his fear that "the end would be a colossal Atlantic Community dependent on America" and in part in anger at the Anglo-American nuclear deal.
Britain's balance of payments problems led to the imposition of a wage freeze in 1961. This caused the government to lose popularity and led to a series of by-election defeats. He organised a major Cabinet change in July 1962 but he continued to lose support from within his party. He was also embarrassed by the Profumo Affair of 1963. Following ill health and surgery he resigned on October 18, 1963. He was succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home, the foreign secretary.
March 1957 - Lord Home succeeds Lord Salisbury as Lord President, remaining also Commonwealth Relations Secretary.
September 1957 - Lord Hailsham succeeds Lord Home as Lord President, Home remaining Commonwealth Relations Secretary. Geoffrey Lloyd succeeds Hailsham as Minister of Education. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Reginald Maudling, enters the Cabinet.
January 1958 - Derick Heathcoat Amory succeeds Peter Thorneycroft as Chancellor of the Exchequer. John Hare succeeds Amory as Minister of Agriculture.
October 1959 - Iain Macleod succeeds Alan Lennox-Boyd as Colonial Secretary. Edward Heath succeeds Macleod as Minister of Labour. Lord Hailsham becomes Minister of Science. Lord Home succeeds Hailsham as Lord President, remaining also Commonwealth Relations Secretary. Sir David Eccles succeeds Geoffrey Lloyd as Minister of Education.Reginald Maudling succeeds Sir David Eccles as President of the Board of Trade. Lord Mills succeeds Maudling as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Lord Mills's succeessor as Minister of Power is not in the Cabinet. The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation is broken up. D.E. Sandys becomes Minister of Aviation and Ernest Marples Minister of Transport. Harold Arthur Watksinson succeeds Sandys as Minister of Defence.
July 1960 - Selwyn Lloyd succeeds D.H. Amory as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Home succeeds Lloyd as Foreign Secretary. D.E. Sandys succeeds Home as Commonwealth Relations Secretary. Lord Hailsham succeeds Home as Lord President. Edward Heath succeeds Hailsham as Lord Privy Seal. John Hare succeeds Heath as Minister of Labour. Christopher Soames succeeds Hare as Minister of Agriculture. Peter Thorneycroft succeeds Sandys as Minister of Aviation.
October 1961 - Frederick Erroll succeeds Reginald Maudling as President of the Board of Trade. Lord Mills becomes a Minister without Portfolio. Henry Brooke succeeds Lord Mills as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and also becomes Paymaster-General. Charles Hill succeeds Brooke as Minister of Housing and Local Government. Iain Macleod succeeds Hill as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
July 1962 - Richard Austen Butler becomes First Secretary of State. Henry Brooke succeeds Butler as Home Secretary. John Boyd-Carpenter succeeds Brooke as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster-General. and Paymaster-General. Reginald Maudling succeeds Selwyn Lloyd as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Dilhorne succeeds Lord Kilmuir as Lord Chancellor. Sir Edward Boyle succeeds Sir David Eccles as Minister of Education. Antony Nobel succeeds John Maclay as Secretary of State for Scotland. The Minister of Health, Enoch Powell, enters the cabinet. Peter Thorneycroft succeeds H.A. Watkinson as Minister of Defence. Julian Amery succeeds Thorneycroft as Minister of Aviation. Sir Keith Joseph succeeds Charles Hill as Minister of Housing and Local Government. Lord Mills leaves the cabinet. William Francis Deedes becomes Minister without Portfolio.