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Henry John Temple, Lord Palmerston

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World Leader

The Resume

    (October 20, 1784-October 18, 1865)
    Born in Westminster, England, United Kingdom
    Third Viscount Palmerston
    British Secretary at War (1809-28), Foreign Secretary (1830-34,1835-41,1846-51) and Home Secretary (1852-55)
    Two-time British Prime Minister (1855-58,1859-65)

Why he might be annoying:

    His reputation as a womanizer got him nicknamed ‘Lord Cupid.’
    He was suspected of having fathered at least one child with his future wife, Emily Lamb, while she was still married to her first husband, Lord Cowper.
    He was a Tory turned Whig turned Liberal.
    He had an abrasive style as Foreign Secretary, leading to the nickname ‘Lord Pumice Stone.’
    He managed to alienate every other European power at some point during his time as foreign secretary.
    He was a professed opponent of slavery who rooted for the Confederacy to win the American Civil War.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was grazed by a bullet when Lt. Davies, a retired officer with a grievance about his application for a pension, shot at him as he walked up the steps of the War Office (April 1, 1818).
    After hearing that Davies was considered mad, he paid for his assailant’s legal defense. (Davies ended up being sent to the asylum at Bedlum.)
    When he was named the ‘other man’ in a divorce suit when he was 79, it increased his popularity. (Evidence suggests the suit was part of an attempt to blackmail Palmerston.)
    He was an unabashed patriot, with Lord Russell declaring, ‘His heart always beat for the honor of England.’
    In an episode of The Simpsons, he was Barney’s choice for Britain’s greatest prime minister.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying