Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC (20
October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who
served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the
mid-19th century. He was in government office almost
continuously from 1807 until his death in 1865, beginning his
parliamentary career as a Tory and concluding it as a Liberal.
He is best remembered for his direction of British foreign
policy through a period when the United Kingdom was at the
height of its power, serving terms as both Foreign Secretary and
Prime Minister. Some of his aggressive actions, now sometimes
termed liberal interventionist, were greatly controversial at
the time, and remain so today. Educated at Harrow School,
Edinburgh University, and St John's College, Cambridge, he
succeeded his father to the title of Viscount Palmerston on 17
April 1802, before he had turned 18. Over the next 6 years he
was defeated in two elections for the University of Cambridge
constituency, but entered parliament as Tory MP for the