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Unlike many of his clan who looked down their noses at anyone connected with "trade," Salisbury "went into the City," became a London businessman. He was named a director of the Westminster Bank, and by 1936 valued his family estates at some $15 million. He was elected to Parliament in 1927 and in the House of Commons joined forces with the fastest-rising star in the Tory firmament: fellow Etonian Anthony Eden. He became Eden's deputy, and an Under Secretary of State.
Then came Chamberlain's appeasement of Mussolini. Salisbury urged Eden to resign in protest against "appeasement," and when Eden did, Salisbury followed. It was Eden's finest hour, but with one eye on the future, the handsome Foreign Secretary reiterated his loyalty to the Tory Party. Bobbety, as a Cecil feeling no need to protest his Tory loyalty, bluntly told the House of Commons that Chamberlain's policy was "a surrender to blackmail." After Munich, and Chamberlain's fatuous promise of "peace with honor," Salisbury demanded ". . . Where is honor?" The right policy, he said, was "rearm, rearm and rearm."
Eden and Salisbury, the "Foreign Office Twins," were called back to office in Winston Churchill's wartime coalition. Salisbury has been Paymaster General, Dominions Secretary, Colonial Secretary,
Leader of the House of Lords, and Lord Privy Seal, but his real specialty is foreign policy leadership within the Tory Party itself. Churchill and Salisbury frequently disagree. The old man respects Foreign Secretary Eden's competence and Chancellor Rab Butler's strength, but Lord Salisbury alone can shut Sir Winston up. Long legs sprawled under the table, long fingers drumming quietly, Bobbety has scolded Churchill on such touchy subjects as a Big Four conference (which Salisbury thinks is foolish) and the recognition of Red China ("a particularly futile example of appeasement"). He thus is in a better spot to understand the U.S. position than many Foreign Office civil servants.