David Lloyd George

Who was David Lloyd George?

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, OM PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman.

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George was a key figure in the introduction of many reforms which laid the foundations of the modern welfare state. His most important role came as the highly energetic Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government, during and immediately after the First World War. He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that reordered Europe after the defeat of Germany in the Great War. He arguably made a greater impact on British public life than any other 20th-century leader, thanks to his pre-war introduction of Britain's social welfare system, his leadership in winning the war, his post-war role in reshaping Europe and his partitioning Ireland.

He was the last Liberal to serve as Prime Minister. Parliamentary support for the coalition premiership was mostly from Conservatives rather than his own Liberals. The Liberal split led to the permanent decline of that party as a serious political force.

Famous Quotes:

• Liberty has restraints but no frontiers.
• With me a change of trouble is as good as a vacation.
• The most dangerous thing in the world is to try to leap a chasm in two jumps.
• Once blood is shed in a national quarrel reason and right are swept aside by the rage of angry men.
• A fully equipped duke costs as much to keep up as two Dreadnoughts, and dukes are just as great a terror -- and they last longer.
• Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.
• No democracy has ever long survived the failure of its adherents to be ready to die for it. My own conviction is this, the people must either go on or go under.
• Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.
• Liberty is not merely a privilege to be conferred; it is a habit to be acquired.
• What is our task? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in.