Neville Chamberlain

Chamberlain came to Parliament late, at 49, after years in business and local government, following his father and half-brother into politics in 1918. He rose quickly through ministerial posts - Health, then Chancellor of the Exchequer - before becoming prime minister on 28 May 1937. His tenure was consumed by the question of Germany's aggression, and Munich made him briefly popular at home. When Hitler invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Chamberlain declared war two days later but delivered little real help during the "Phoney War." The failed defense of Norway in May 1940 shattered confidence in his leadership; after a brutal Commons debate stripped his majority, he resigned on 10 May, making way for Churchill. He stayed in the war cabinet as Lord President until cancer forced him out on 22 September. He died six weeks later, on 9 November 1940, his reputation already in ruins - blamed by Guilty Men and later historians for misjudging Hitler, though some now argue Britain wasn't ready for war in 1938.