Voting Station

F.J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich

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World Leader

The Resume

    (November 1, 1782-January 28, 1859)
    Born in Skelton-on-Ure, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Frederick John Robinson
    Treasurer of the Navy (1818-23)
    President of the Board of Trade (1818-23, 1841-43)
    Chancellor of the Exchequer (1823-27)
    Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1827, 1830-33)
    Prime Minister (August 31, 1827-January 21, 1828)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was elected to Parliament to represent a 'pocket borough' (one in which the residents were tenants of a single landlord, who could tell them how to vote and -- since the secret ballot had yet to be introduced -- evict anyone who ignored his dictates).
    He was unexpectedly named Prime Minister after the death of George Canning mainly because King George IV personally disliked the two leading Tories, Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington.
    He was unable to balance the conflicting demands of the King and the Whigs in his coalition government.
    He resigned after 144 days, the shortest tenure of any Prime Minister who did not die in office.
    King George IV called him 'a damned, sniveling, blubbering blockhead.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a student at Cambridge, he won the William Browne Medal for best Latin ode (1801).
    Only one of his three children lived to adulthood.
    He served as President of the Royal Geographic Society (1830-33) and the Royal Society of Literature (1834-45).
    Although a disappointment as Prime Minister, he had been a successful cabinet officer, with one historian noting, 'Robinson was a first-rate administrator, a superb head of a department. He had a good mind, a great capacity for work, and an appetite for precision.'

Credit: C. Fishel


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    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
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