The premiership of Sir Anthony Eden: a reassessment using the Greenstein model

This thesis provides an analysis of the leadership style of Anthony Eden (1955-57) by utilising the framework provided by Fred Greenstein in his analysis of American presidents. In doing so, it adds to the growing academic literature which has applied this model to contemporary British prime ministers. It evaluates Eden’s skill in public communication, organisational capacity, political skill, policy vision and cognitive/emotional style. It hopes to distinguish itself by introducing an evaluation of Eden in terms of his personality and leadership, departing from the biographical/historical approach which dominates literature on his premiership. It illustrates how researchers can explore the effect that personality and temperament has on leadership and can reveal where personality vis-a-vis context influences a British premiership. In this sense, the research has implications for leadership studies as well as how we understand Eden’s premiership, building on the work of Theakston (2007, 2011, 2012), Heppell (2012), Honeyman (2007) and McMeeking (2020), all of whom have utilised the Greenstein model to assess contemporary British prime ministers.