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Harold Macmillan: Difference between revisions
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Known as "Supermac", Macmillan's time in office saw a prosperous Britain, but later a wage freeze due to balance of payments issues. 1962 saw the "Night of the Long Knives", where eight members of his Cabinet were sacked in one go. The next year saw the Profumo scandal, which can be summarised as "Cabinet minister sleeps with prostitute who is also sleeping with Soviet spy".
Mac got on well with [[John F. Kennedy]], seeing himself as a kind of mentor to the young President. Just before the Cuban Missile Crisis, he passed a copy of Barbara Tuchman's history book ''The Guns of August'' to Kennedy, with his recommendations. Earlier on he was also friendly with President Eisenhower, the two of them having met [[During the War]].
[[Superior Firepower]] in the UK was increased during this time (the Thor missiles were deployed) and the decision was made to buy Polaris from the US. A reluctance to share nuclear secrets with France led to de Gaulle vetoing the UK's first attempt to enter the [[European Union|EEC]].
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