John Freeman (British politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to India
In office
1965–1968
Preceded bySir Paul Gore-Booth
Succeeded bySir Morrice James
Member of Parliament for Watford
In office
5 July 1945 – 6 May 1955
Preceded byWilliam Helmore
Succeeded byFrederick Farey-Jones
Personal details
Born(1915-02-19)19 February 1915
London, England
Died20 December 2014(2014-12-20) (aged 99)
Spouses
Elizabeth Allen Johnston
​
​
(m. 1938; div. 1948)​
Margaret Ista Mabel Kerr
​
​
(m. 1948; died 1957)​
​
​
(m. 1962; div. 1976)​
[1]
Judith Mitchell
​
(m. 1976)​
ChildrenSix[2]
EducationWestminster School
Alma materBrasenose College, Oxford
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Diplomat
  • Broadcaster
Military service
Allegiance 
Rifle Brigade, 7th Armoured Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
  • North African Campaign

PC (19 February 1915 – 20 December 2014) was a British politician, diplomat, broadcaster and British Army officer. He was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1945 to 1955.[2]

Early life

Freeman was born in a house in the Regent's Park neighbourhood of London on 19 February 1915, the son of a barrister. The family later moved to Brondesbury. He joined the Labour Party whilst a student at Westminster School in the early 1930s, and later obtained his degree at Brasenose College, Oxford. He worked for a time at the advertising firm Ashley Courtenay.[3]

Career

Military service

During

MBE
in 1943.

Political career

After his return to Britain, he was selected as Labour candidate for Watford and was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 1945 election.

In September 1947, he was appointed Vice-President of the Army Council, the supreme administering body of the British Army.[5]

Originally, Freeman was on the Bevanite left-wing of the Party, although also supported by Hugh Dalton who liked to go 'talent-spotting' among young MPs. He rose quickly through the ministerial ranks, but resigned along with Aneurin Bevan and Harold Wilson in 1951 over National Health Service charges. He stood down as an MP at the 1955 general election.

Journalism and public career

Freeman became a presenter of

Face to Face.[6]

In 1962, he described Richard Nixon, then bidding to become Governor of California, as “a man of no principle whatsoever except a willingness to sacrifice everything in the cause of Dick Nixon”. Later in the pages of the New Statesman he portrayed Nixon[7] as "a discredited and outmoded purveyor of the irrational and inactive" whose 1964 defeat would be a "victory for decency."[4] In the event Nixon did not run for President in 1964, but instead supported Barry Goldwater, who lost easily.

While

Ambassador to the United States (1969–1971). As Henry Kissinger describes in his memoirs, this created an embarrassing situation for Wilson when Nixon won the election seven months after Freeman's appointment as ambassador; allegedly, Wilson had been predicting a Democratic victory. Wilson refused to fire Freeman or remove him from the guest list for a dinner at Downing Street during Nixon's first official visit in 1969. However, Kissinger writes that the issue was resolved when Nixon, who was sat opposite Freeman, made a toast at the end of the dinner:

"Some say there's a new Nixon. And they wonder if there's a new Freeman. I would like to think that that's all behind us. After all, he's the new diplomat and I'm the new statesman, trying to do our best for peace in the world."[8]

Following this, the two became friends and Freeman "was the only Ambassador invited to the White House for social occasions during his first term". Kissinger said he "became one of my closest friends; that friendship has survived both our terms in office."[8]

During his time in Washington he also became a staunch fan of the

Washington Redskins.[4]

Freeman became Chairman of

ITN
(1976–1981).

From 1985 to 1990, he was Visiting Professor of

Brasenose College
, Oxford, in 1968.

Later life

In later life Freeman commentated on

Granada Television.[citation needed
]

He retired to Barnes, London, removing himself to a military care home in south London in 2012.[3]

When Morgan Morgan-Giles died on 4 May 2013, Freeman became the oldest surviving former MP. He was the last survivor of those elected to Parliament in 1945. Following the death of Tony Benn on 14 March 2014, he was also the last surviving member of the 1950 parliament and the last surviving MP under King George VI.

Freeman died on 20 December 2014, aged 99.[2]

References

  1. ^ O'Hagan, Andrew (2 August 2020). "Catherine Freeman". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Journalist John Freeman dies at 99". BBC News. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Purcell, Hugh (7 March 2013). "John Freeman: Face to face with an enigma". New Statesman. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  4. ^
    Washington Times
    . p. B1.
  5. ^ "No. 38093". The London Gazette. 10 October 1947. p. 4753.
  6. Dame Edith Sitwell (1959); Adam Faith, Stirling Moss and Evelyn Waugh (1960); and Martin Luther King Jr.
    (1961).
  7. ^ Purcell, Hugh (July 2019). "New Statesman letter". New Statesman: 10.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-85720-709-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )

External links
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Watford
1945–1955 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the War Office
1946–1947 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for War
1947 		Succeeded by
Media offices
Preceded by Editor of the New Statesman
1961–1965 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
High Commissioner to India

1965–1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
British Ambassador to the United States

1969–1971 		Succeeded by
George Baring, 3rd Earl of Cromer
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