James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan (1912–2005,) original name Leonard James Callaghan, nicknamed ‘Big Jim,’ was a British Labour Party politician and prime minister 1976–79. He is the only person ever to have held all four top positions in the British government.
Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and educated at Portsmouth Northern Secondary School, Callaghan joined the staff of the Inland Revenue in 1929. In 1945, he was elected Labour MP for South Cardiff and from 1950 represented Cardiff South East.
Callaghan became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1964–67.) In this capacity, Callaghan introduced some of the most controversial taxation measures in British fiscal history, including the corporation and selective employment taxes. He was home secretary (1967–70) and foreign secretary (1974–76.)
Callaghan became prime minister upon Wilson’s resignation (1976) and served until the 1979 general election. A failure to anticipate or check the growing power of left-wing extremists within his party and in trade unionism, culminating in the ‘Winter of Discontent,’ is said to have contributed significantly to Labour’s defeat by Margaret Thatcher’s brand of new-look Conservatism in 1979.
Callaghan’s autobiography is Time and Chance (1987.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by James Callaghan
Some people, however long their experience or strong their intellect, are temperamentally incapable of reaching firm decisions.
—James Callaghan
Topics: Decisions
A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice.
—James Callaghan
Topics: Advice
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