Brendan Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken
Encyclopedia
Brendan Randell Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken PC (15 February 1901 – 8 August 1958) was an Irish
businessman and a minister in the British
Conservative cabinet. Primarily, the 1st Viscount Bracken is remembered for opposing the Bank of England's
co-operation with Adolf Hitler, and for subsequently supporting Winston Churchill
's prosecution of the Second World War against Hitler. Bracken was also the founder of the modern version of the Financial Times.. He served as Minister of Information from 1941 to 1945. Many literary academics believe that it was Bracken who inspired George Orwell
to create the character Big Brother in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
. Orwell himself was a civil servant under Brackens department during the war years.
, County Tipperary
, Ireland. He was the second son of Joseph Kevin (J.K.) Bracken
and Hannah Agnes Ryan. J.K. Bracken was a successful builder, who was a member of the Fenian brotherhood that was committed to winning the independence of Ireland from Britain by force. Prior to J.K Bracken's marriage to Brendan's mother, he had two children from a previous marriage. J.K Bracken was a founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association
established in 1884. Brendan's father died in 1903, when Brendan was three. His widowed mother then moved to Dublin with Brendan, his three full siblings and his two step sisters. She later married Patrick Laffan who was also sympathetic to Irish rebellion. Brendan was educated by the Christian Brothers
in Dublin and later by the Jesuits at Mungret College
, a boarding school in County Limerick
, but ran away in 1915. In Dublin, like many fatherless young boys of his age, Brendan became all but uncontrollable, engaging in pranks and altercations. In desperation his mother sent him to Australia to live with one of her cousins who was a Catholic priest (Fr Laffan) in Echuca in Victoria State. Brendan led a nomadic existence in Australia, moving often but reading avidly and acquiring a self education.
In 1919 Bracken returned briefly to Ireland, finding his mother settled in Co Meath with her new husband and child. He distanced himself from his siblings who were in revolt with his mother over his father's inheritance, moving instead to settle in Liverpool. In 1920 he appeared at Sedbergh School
in Cumbria
, claiming to be 15 years old, an Australian, to have been orphaned in a bush fire, and to have a family connection to Montagu Rendell, then the headmaster of Winchester College
. Without fully believing this story, he was accepted by Headmaster Weech at Sedbergh who was impressed by the depth of knowledge displayed by the young Bracken, and his eagerness to progress his education. At the end of one term he emerged having succeeded in blending his Irish republican heritage and his five formative years in Australia, with the elements and trappings of a British public school man.
He might have had good reason for seeking to hide his Irish heritage as the War of Independence
(1919–1921) aroused great hostility towards the Irish living in Great Britain
. For whatever reason this denial became a regular feature of his personal strategy in life. A second example occurred in 1926 when he met Emmet Dalton
in London. This British soldier turned IRA confidant, who was one of Michael Collins
's right-hand men, recalled meeting Bracken at primary school in Dublin. Bracken denied this, but Dalton insisted that he remembered the smell of Bracken's corduroy trousers. A third example occurred during the Second World War when Bracken told people that his brother had been killed in action at Narvik
, when in fact his brother was alive, well, and asking Brendan for money, from Ireland.
In the 1981 ITV Drama series Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
it was suggested that he encouraged a rumour that he was Churchill's illegitimate son and that as a result Clementine Churchill actively sought to turn her husband against him. Lady Churchill's initial antipathy towards the tall red-haired "Irish-Australian" whom she had found one morning sleeping on her couch with his boots on, softened in later life as the loyal support of "Churchill's Faithful Chela" proved invaluable both politically and personally.
. He then made a successful career from 1922 as a magazine publisher and newspaper editor in London
. His initial success was based on selling advertising space to at least cover the cost of each number. In the 1923 election
he assisted Winston Churchill's unsuccessful attempt to be elected as Member of Parliament
(MP) for Leicester West
, which started their political affiliation. Bracken himself stood for parliament, being elected to the House of Commons in 1929 for the London constituency of North Paddington
. Many of his early magazine stories included a political flavour and he commissioned articles from a wide range of politicians such as Churchill and Mussolini
. Business and politics permanently overlapped in his life, in a similar way to the career of his occasional friend Lord Beaverbrook
. He needed politicians for stories and they needed the publicity given by his publications.
Bracken's physique was memorable. Very tall and fit, immaculately dressed, with a shock of long unruly red hair, he was also very short-sighted and wore thick lenses. He tended to converse in lengthy monologues. To many this was a repellent combination, but he could also memorize an impressive array of gossip, facts and anecdotes, and his publishing career was always successful.
A supporter of Winston Churchill
from 1923, when Churchill was out of parliament and in the political wilderness, in the 1930s he was invited to join Churchill's "Other Club". Their lives changed from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. When Churchill became prime minister in May 1940 Bracken helped in moving him in to Downing Street. Bracken was sworn of the Privy Council in 1940, despite his lack of ministerial experience. He served as, and was regarded as an excellent Minister of Information
from 1941 to 1945 after a short stint as Churchill's Parliamentary Private Secretary
. However, he was unpopular with his civil servants, who cheered when news of his defeat in the 1945 General Election came through.
One of the Ministry of Information employees with whom Bracken was unpopular was George Orwell
, who under his given name of Eric Blair worked under Bracken on the BBC's Indian service. In some ways the character of Big Brother in Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was based on Bracken. Bracken was customarily referred to by MOI employees by his initials, B.B., the same initials as the character Big Brother. Orwell also resented the war time censorship and need to manipulate information which he felt came from the highest levels of the MOI and from Bracken's office in particular. Ironically, much of the attempts to manipulate the media actually came from Government Departments other than Bracken's, and Bracken himself constantly resisted his Prime Minister's desire to control the press. He was particularly vociferous in his support for the independence of the BBC, having re-structured the financial basis of the broadcaster and streamlined war-time foreign propaganda activities away from domestic reporting and news functions. Bracken's inside track with the Prime Minister was the source of intense envy and anger within both the civil service, and senior Conservative ranks. Churchill's son Randolph
, also possibly envious of Bracken's close personal and political relationship with his father, summarized the jealous antipathy towards Bracken when he dismissed him as "the fantasist whose fantasies had come true". Bracken's ability to wear his war-time hair-shirt inside out ruffled a lot of feathers, and when strategies had to be implemented, very few prisoners were taken.
prepared to resign in May 1940, his successor would be Churchill or Lord Halifax
. The political issue at stake at the time was the formation of a National British Government, and the particular dilemma surrounded which of Chamberlain's potential successors would be acceptable to the Labour Party. The view in Churchill's mind was that the Labour Party would not support him, and he had therefore agreed with Chamberlain to nominate Lord Halifax. When Bracken became aware of Churchill's agreement to nominate Lord Halifax, he moved heaven and earth to convince Churchill that the Labour Party would indeed support him as Chamberlain's successor, and that Lord Halifax's appointment would hand certain victory to Hitler. Bracken advised Churchill tactically to say nothing when the three met to arrange the succession. After a deafening silence during which Churchill was expected to nominate Halifax, the latter obligingly ruled himself out and Churchill was put forward as Britain's War-time Prime Minister, having avoided any appearance of disloyalty to Chamberlain.
, "stating that he was the closest confidant and personal agent of the President. I therefore arranged that he should be met by Mr. Brendan Bracken on his arrival." The strong suggestion, of course, is that Churchill arranged, as is diplomatic custom, for Hopkins to be met by the person who was his closest counterpart in British government, and that Bracken often played the role of confidant and personal agent to Churchill. After Bracken met Hopkins' flight on 9 January 1941, Churchill and Hopkins forged a close association. According to Lysaght's
biography, Bracken and Hopkins had met in America in the late 1930s, and this personal tie helped speed the decision to assist Britain nearly a year before the USA actually entered the war. Churchill's references to Bracken's role in his political and personal life are noticeable by the stunning nature of their absence. Several intriguing explanations exist for this ranging in possibility from a situation where Bracken merged with the fabric of Churchill's life to the extent of becoming invisible, to the more likely situation in which Churchill agreed to comply with Bracken's unique quest for no personal glory. The latter might be summarized by Bracken's apparent motive: "True hero worship is an entirely selfless process."
's Labour Party. He himself lost his North Paddington seat but returned as MP for Bournemouth
in a November 1945 by-election. He was a relentless critic of the Labour Government's policy of nationalisation and the retreat from Empire. At the 1950 general election he was returned for Bournemouth East and Christchurch
, a seat he held until the general election the following year. In early 1952 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Bracken, of Christchurch
in the County of Southampton
, but never used the title nor sat in the House of Lords
. He retired from publishing in 1956.
His most famous business achievement was in merging the Financial News into the Financial Times
in 1945. The latter was published from Bracken House, clad in pink stone to match the colour of the paper, just east of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was remodelled in 1989. At this stage he was also publishing The Economist
. In 1926 he was the founding editor of The Banker
magazine and they still name their respected annual Bank of the Year awards "Brackens" in his honour. The Banker also features a regular column called "Bracken", focusing on providing views and perspectives on how to improve the global financial system, which reflects Brendan Bracken's enormous contribution to open discussion and understanding of international finance.
's Brideshead Revisited
, and George Orwell's Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four, speaks to the immense contemporary size of the man himself. Because he destroyed all of his personal papers, the memory of his life has been open to mis-interpretation, mis-understanding, and historical neglect. If he had lived as a media mogul and politician in modern times, he would have been surrounded by an army of image and pr consultants. But Brendan Bracken did not appear to care about his personal image as much as he cared about fashioning an opportunity to contribute on the political and economic stage of his generation. Though he dated several glamorous ladies in the 1920s, including the well-connected starlet and model Penelope Dudley Ward
, he never married. He died of esophageal cancer
on 8 August 1958, aged 57. A former Catholic, he refused the last rites
of the Church despite efforts by his nephew Fr. Kevin Bracken, a Trappist
monk in Bethlehem Abbey, Portglenone
, to persuade him to return to the Catholic faith. "The Blackshirts of God were after me" Bracken reportedly said, "but I sent them packing!" The Viscountcy died with him.
broadcast an hour long TV documentary about his life, entitled "Brendan Bracken - Churchill's Irishman." The programme was made by Spanish Production company Marbella Productions, in association with RTÉ
, and examined Bracken's life through photographs, interviews, rare archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, and told of his importance in the areas of British political and journalistic life, despite his attempt to hide from history by having all his papers burned after his death.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
businessman and a minister in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative cabinet. Primarily, the 1st Viscount Bracken is remembered for opposing the Bank of England's
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
co-operation with Adolf Hitler, and for subsequently supporting Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's prosecution of the Second World War against Hitler. Bracken was also the founder of the modern version of the Financial Times.. He served as Minister of Information from 1941 to 1945. Many literary academics believe that it was Bracken who inspired George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
to create the character Big Brother in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
. Orwell himself was a civil servant under Brackens department during the war years.
Early life
Bracken was born in 1901 in TemplemoreTemplemore
Templemore is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea....
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, Ireland. He was the second son of Joseph Kevin (J.K.) Bracken
Joseph Kevin Bracken
Joseph Kevin Bracken , from Templemore, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, was a builder who spent his early years in America. He is most famous for being one of the seven founder members in 1884 of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was also a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The local Gaelic...
and Hannah Agnes Ryan. J.K. Bracken was a successful builder, who was a member of the Fenian brotherhood that was committed to winning the independence of Ireland from Britain by force. Prior to J.K Bracken's marriage to Brendan's mother, he had two children from a previous marriage. J.K Bracken was a founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
established in 1884. Brendan's father died in 1903, when Brendan was three. His widowed mother then moved to Dublin with Brendan, his three full siblings and his two step sisters. She later married Patrick Laffan who was also sympathetic to Irish rebellion. Brendan was educated by the Christian Brothers
O'Connell School
The O’Connell School is a secondary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The school, named in honour of the leader of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Christian Brothers school in Dublin, having...
in Dublin and later by the Jesuits at Mungret College
Mungret College
Mungret College, situated west of Limerick, Ireland, near the village of Mungret, was a Jesuit apostolic school and a lay secondary school from 1882 until 1974 when it closed as a school for the last time. The college produced over 1000 priests in that period...
, a boarding school in County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, but ran away in 1915. In Dublin, like many fatherless young boys of his age, Brendan became all but uncontrollable, engaging in pranks and altercations. In desperation his mother sent him to Australia to live with one of her cousins who was a Catholic priest (Fr Laffan) in Echuca in Victoria State. Brendan led a nomadic existence in Australia, moving often but reading avidly and acquiring a self education.
In 1919 Bracken returned briefly to Ireland, finding his mother settled in Co Meath with her new husband and child. He distanced himself from his siblings who were in revolt with his mother over his father's inheritance, moving instead to settle in Liverpool. In 1920 he appeared at Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, claiming to be 15 years old, an Australian, to have been orphaned in a bush fire, and to have a family connection to Montagu Rendell, then the headmaster of Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
. Without fully believing this story, he was accepted by Headmaster Weech at Sedbergh who was impressed by the depth of knowledge displayed by the young Bracken, and his eagerness to progress his education. At the end of one term he emerged having succeeded in blending his Irish republican heritage and his five formative years in Australia, with the elements and trappings of a British public school man.
He might have had good reason for seeking to hide his Irish heritage as the War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
(1919–1921) aroused great hostility towards the Irish living in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. For whatever reason this denial became a regular feature of his personal strategy in life. A second example occurred in 1926 when he met Emmet Dalton
Emmet Dalton
Emmet Dalton was an Irish soldier and film producer. He served in the British Army in the First World War, reaching the rank of Major. However, on his return to Ireland he became one of the senior figures in the Dublin Brigade of the guerrilla Irish Republican Army which fought against British...
in London. This British soldier turned IRA confidant, who was one of Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
's right-hand men, recalled meeting Bracken at primary school in Dublin. Bracken denied this, but Dalton insisted that he remembered the smell of Bracken's corduroy trousers. A third example occurred during the Second World War when Bracken told people that his brother had been killed in action at Narvik
Battles of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April-8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War....
, when in fact his brother was alive, well, and asking Brendan for money, from Ireland.
In the 1981 ITV Drama series Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years is an 8-part 1981 drama serial based on the life of Winston Churchill, and particularly his years in enforced exile from political position during the 1920s and 30s...
it was suggested that he encouraged a rumour that he was Churchill's illegitimate son and that as a result Clementine Churchill actively sought to turn her husband against him. Lady Churchill's initial antipathy towards the tall red-haired "Irish-Australian" whom she had found one morning sleeping on her couch with his boots on, softened in later life as the loyal support of "Churchill's Faithful Chela" proved invaluable both politically and personally.
Business and political career
After Sedbergh, whose "old boy" tie he used to good effect, Bracken was briefly a schoolmaster at Bishop's Stortford CollegeBishop's Stortford College
Bishop's Stortford College is a co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils from the ages of four to eighteen, with a campus located on the edge of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England...
. He then made a successful career from 1922 as a magazine publisher and newspaper editor in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His initial success was based on selling advertising space to at least cover the cost of each number. In the 1923 election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
he assisted Winston Churchill's unsuccessful attempt to be elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Leicester West
Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency)
Leicester West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, which started their political affiliation. Bracken himself stood for parliament, being elected to the House of Commons in 1929 for the London constituency of North Paddington
Paddington North (UK Parliament constituency)
Paddington North was a borough constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in London which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system...
. Many of his early magazine stories included a political flavour and he commissioned articles from a wide range of politicians such as Churchill and Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. Business and politics permanently overlapped in his life, in a similar way to the career of his occasional friend Lord Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
. He needed politicians for stories and they needed the publicity given by his publications.
Bracken's physique was memorable. Very tall and fit, immaculately dressed, with a shock of long unruly red hair, he was also very short-sighted and wore thick lenses. He tended to converse in lengthy monologues. To many this was a repellent combination, but he could also memorize an impressive array of gossip, facts and anecdotes, and his publishing career was always successful.
A supporter of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
from 1923, when Churchill was out of parliament and in the political wilderness, in the 1930s he was invited to join Churchill's "Other Club". Their lives changed from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. When Churchill became prime minister in May 1940 Bracken helped in moving him in to Downing Street. Bracken was sworn of the Privy Council in 1940, despite his lack of ministerial experience. He served as, and was regarded as an excellent Minister of Information
Minister of Information
The Ministry of Information , headed by the Minister of Information, was a United Kingdom government department created briefly at the end of World War I and again during World War II...
from 1941 to 1945 after a short stint as Churchill's Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
. However, he was unpopular with his civil servants, who cheered when news of his defeat in the 1945 General Election came through.
One of the Ministry of Information employees with whom Bracken was unpopular was George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, who under his given name of Eric Blair worked under Bracken on the BBC's Indian service. In some ways the character of Big Brother in Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was based on Bracken. Bracken was customarily referred to by MOI employees by his initials, B.B., the same initials as the character Big Brother. Orwell also resented the war time censorship and need to manipulate information which he felt came from the highest levels of the MOI and from Bracken's office in particular. Ironically, much of the attempts to manipulate the media actually came from Government Departments other than Bracken's, and Bracken himself constantly resisted his Prime Minister's desire to control the press. He was particularly vociferous in his support for the independence of the BBC, having re-structured the financial basis of the broadcaster and streamlined war-time foreign propaganda activities away from domestic reporting and news functions. Bracken's inside track with the Prime Minister was the source of intense envy and anger within both the civil service, and senior Conservative ranks. Churchill's son Randolph
Randolph Churchill
Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill, MBE was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1940 to 1945....
, also possibly envious of Bracken's close personal and political relationship with his father, summarized the jealous antipathy towards Bracken when he dismissed him as "the fantasist whose fantasies had come true". Bracken's ability to wear his war-time hair-shirt inside out ruffled a lot of feathers, and when strategies had to be implemented, very few prisoners were taken.
Assists in selection of Churchill
In two matters relating to Churchill, Bracken can be said to have played a key part behind the scenes. When Neville ChamberlainNeville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
prepared to resign in May 1940, his successor would be Churchill or Lord Halifax
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, , known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as...
. The political issue at stake at the time was the formation of a National British Government, and the particular dilemma surrounded which of Chamberlain's potential successors would be acceptable to the Labour Party. The view in Churchill's mind was that the Labour Party would not support him, and he had therefore agreed with Chamberlain to nominate Lord Halifax. When Bracken became aware of Churchill's agreement to nominate Lord Halifax, he moved heaven and earth to convince Churchill that the Labour Party would indeed support him as Chamberlain's successor, and that Lord Halifax's appointment would hand certain victory to Hitler. Bracken advised Churchill tactically to say nothing when the three met to arrange the succession. After a deafening silence during which Churchill was expected to nominate Halifax, the latter obligingly ruled himself out and Churchill was put forward as Britain's War-time Prime Minister, having avoided any appearance of disloyalty to Chamberlain.
Support from USA 1940-41
An interesting insight into the nature of the relationship between Churchill and Bracken is found in Churchill's history of World War II. Churchill writes that he had received telegrams from Washington about Harry HopkinsHarry Hopkins
Harry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...
, "stating that he was the closest confidant and personal agent of the President. I therefore arranged that he should be met by Mr. Brendan Bracken on his arrival." The strong suggestion, of course, is that Churchill arranged, as is diplomatic custom, for Hopkins to be met by the person who was his closest counterpart in British government, and that Bracken often played the role of confidant and personal agent to Churchill. After Bracken met Hopkins' flight on 9 January 1941, Churchill and Hopkins forged a close association. According to Lysaght's
Charles Lysaght
Charles Lysaght is an Irish lawyer, author and journalist. He is the foremost writer of obituaries in Ireland.-Legal career:Lysaght was educated at Cambridge University and qualified as a barrister at the King's Inns, Dublin, and then at Lincoln's Inn in London...
biography, Bracken and Hopkins had met in America in the late 1930s, and this personal tie helped speed the decision to assist Britain nearly a year before the USA actually entered the war. Churchill's references to Bracken's role in his political and personal life are noticeable by the stunning nature of their absence. Several intriguing explanations exist for this ranging in possibility from a situation where Bracken merged with the fabric of Churchill's life to the extent of becoming invisible, to the more likely situation in which Churchill agreed to comply with Bracken's unique quest for no personal glory. The latter might be summarized by Bracken's apparent motive: "True hero worship is an entirely selfless process."
Post-war Years
In 1945 Bracken was briefly made First Lord of the Admiralty but lost the post in the fall of the Churchill government to Clement AttleeClement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
's Labour Party. He himself lost his North Paddington seat but returned as MP for Bournemouth
Bournemouth (UK Parliament constituency)
Bournemouth is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. The seaside resort was created as a parliamentary borough in 1918 and the seat existed until it was divided in 1950...
in a November 1945 by-election. He was a relentless critic of the Labour Government's policy of nationalisation and the retreat from Empire. At the 1950 general election he was returned for Bournemouth East and Christchurch
Bournemouth East and Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)
Bournemouth East and Christchurch is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It returned one Member of Parliament, using the first past the post electoral system from the United Kingdom general election, 1950 until the constituency was abolished in 1974.The seat was based upon the...
, a seat he held until the general election the following year. In early 1952 he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Bracken, of Christchurch
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
in the County of Southampton
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, but never used the title nor sat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He retired from publishing in 1956.
His most famous business achievement was in merging the Financial News into the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
in 1945. The latter was published from Bracken House, clad in pink stone to match the colour of the paper, just east of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was remodelled in 1989. At this stage he was also publishing The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. In 1926 he was the founding editor of The Banker
The Banker
The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London...
magazine and they still name their respected annual Bank of the Year awards "Brackens" in his honour. The Banker also features a regular column called "Bracken", focusing on providing views and perspectives on how to improve the global financial system, which reflects Brendan Bracken's enormous contribution to open discussion and understanding of international finance.
Personal life
Such was Brendan Bracken's larger than life persona that he both intimidated and inspired many of his contemporaries. In one lifetime, to have been the model for the brash Rex Mottram in Evelyn WaughEvelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. Waugh wrote that the novel "deals with what is theologically termed 'the operation of Grace', that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by...
, and George Orwell's Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four, speaks to the immense contemporary size of the man himself. Because he destroyed all of his personal papers, the memory of his life has been open to mis-interpretation, mis-understanding, and historical neglect. If he had lived as a media mogul and politician in modern times, he would have been surrounded by an army of image and pr consultants. But Brendan Bracken did not appear to care about his personal image as much as he cared about fashioning an opportunity to contribute on the political and economic stage of his generation. Though he dated several glamorous ladies in the 1920s, including the well-connected starlet and model Penelope Dudley Ward
Penelope Dudley Ward
Penelope Ann Rachel, Lady Reed , known as Penelope Dudley-Ward, was an English actress.Born Penelope Anne Rachel Dudley Ward in London, she was the elder daughter of The Right Honourable William Dudley Ward and the leading socialite Freda Dudley Ward, most well-known for being the long-time...
, he never married. He died of esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
on 8 August 1958, aged 57. A former Catholic, he refused the last rites
Last Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
of the Church despite efforts by his nephew Fr. Kevin Bracken, a Trappist
Trappists
The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , or Trappists, is a Roman Catholic religious order of cloistered contemplative monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict...
monk in Bethlehem Abbey, Portglenone
Portglenone
Portglenone is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 8.5 miles west of Ballymena. It had a population of 2,900 in the 2001 Census...
, to persuade him to return to the Catholic faith. "The Blackshirts of God were after me" Bracken reportedly said, "but I sent them packing!" The Viscountcy died with him.
2010 television documentary
On 21st December 2010 RTÉ OneRTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
broadcast an hour long TV documentary about his life, entitled "Brendan Bracken - Churchill's Irishman." The programme was made by Spanish Production company Marbella Productions, in association with RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
, and examined Bracken's life through photographs, interviews, rare archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, and told of his importance in the areas of British political and journalistic life, despite his attempt to hide from history by having all his papers burned after his death.