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Diplomatic Miracle. Since the Tories returned to power in 1951, Eden's stature has grown steadily. He is not a man of power by instinct or by character, and for too long he has lived in the shade of the great Churchillian oak. Eden has had to conquer a painful shyness and a distaste for the rough and tumble of Tory politics. After a typical Eden speech, delivered with its customary earnestness. Winston Churchill once grumped: "My God, he used every cliché in the English language except 'God is love' and 'Gentlemen will please adjust their dress before leaving.' " But as an orator, Eden, though he casts no spells, conveys conviction.
He has the Englishman's dislike of moral passion in foreign affairs. The Foreign Office prides itself on its practicality and puts its faith in adjustments, not solutions. In the U.S., Eden's prestige hit a low point during last summer's Geneva conference. Three months later, John Foster Dulles gave him credit for "a diplomatic miracle," when by skillful flexibility and timing Eden put back together the Atlantic alliance after the death of EDC, and achieved the goal of West German rearmament through the Paris accords.
The Long Wait. Since then, Sir Anthony Eden has been waiting with impeccable good manners (and sometimes super-human patience) for Sir Winston Churchill to retire. The long wait has been a trial. Sometimes, in the midnight hours, Eden's phone would ring, and Churchill's voice would say: "I am very tired. I think you must get ready . . ." But in the morning the old man would change his mind again. Sometimes he got a puckish delight out of teasing Eden, and there have been times in recent months when Eden's respect for the "greatest living man," as he calls Sir Winston, has been severely taxed.
Sir Anthony is now ready, willing and able to take over the mantle of one whose fame he cannot hope to match but whose job, he is sure, he can fill. With the prize nearly within his grasp, Eden has visibly grown in assurance, authority and poise. The best years of his life may still be ahead.
*The young Pitt became George III's Prime Minister at 24. *Eden's elder son Simon, an R.A.F. navigator, was lost over Burma in World War II.