# Lord Palmerston — The Education of Henry Adams character guide

> Lord Palmerston in The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Palmerston, Personally Lord Palmerston, Lords Palmerston

**First appearance:** 0010-viii-diplomacy-1861

## Snapshot

The wily British Prime Minister whose death in 1865 cleared the diplomatic board, marking for Henry Adams the quiet end of an era of English political tutelage.

## Who they are

Palmerston presided over the British government through the Civil War years, one of the 'most costly tutors in the world' whose methods and motives Henry Adams studied from the Legation. His death in October 1865, followed by Russell's fall, dissolved the old opposition and left Minister Adams almost a historical monument in London. For the young private secretary, Palmerston's passing signaled that England itself was growing more agreeable and amusing—and more dangerously seductive to an American trying to resist its habits of mind.

## In the story

### [IX: Foes or Friends (1862)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/ix-foes-or-friends-1862)

The British Prime Minister, seen as a dangerous and untrustworthy figure who wants a quarrel with the United States over General Butler's order, but ultimately backs down.

### [X: Political Morality (1862)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/x-political-morality-1862)

Prime Minister who distances himself from Gladstone's remarks and repudiates them through Sir George Cornewall Lewis.

### [XI: The Battle of the Rams (1863)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xi-the-battle-of-the-rams-1863)

Prime Minister, who suggests buying the rams for the British Navy after Russell's legal doubts, showing loyalty to his colleague.

### [XIII: The Perfection of Human Society (1864)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xiii-the-perfection-of-human-society-1864)

Palmerston's personal influence from 1860 to 1865 created a political interregnum that affected the social atmosphere.

### [XIV: Dilettantism (1865–1866)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xiv-dilettantism-1865-1866)

Dies in October 1865, marking a shift in English politics.

## Links

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