Basic Information
Name: Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS
Nickname: Supermac
Born: February 10th, 1894
Died: December 29th, 1986
Nationality: British
Hometown: London
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: prime minister of the United Kingdom
Education: Balliol College, University of Oxford
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Helen Nellie Artie Tarleton Belles and Maurice Crawford Macmillan
Siblings: Daniel Macmillan and Arthur Macmillan
Spouse: Lady Dorothy Cavendish
Children: Maurice Macmillan, Caroline Faber, Catherine Amery, and Sarah Heath
Friends: Sir Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy
Foes: Soviets, liberals, youths, spies, and vixens
Analysis
Here's an odd tidbit: as of 2017, Harold Macmillan was the last British prime minister to sport a mustache.
Huh.
Well, it was certainly something he grew into, but regardless, the first Earl of Stockton always cut a fine figure. There are many nicknames that could be generated by the name of such a dignified figure, but he was lovingly known to the citizens of the United Kingdom as "Supermac."
Perhaps this is because he was one powerhouse of a leader. Genteel upbringing and upper-class education aside, the man was one tough cookie. Like many of his political peers, he was involved in both World War I and World War II. In the former, the guy was wounded three times. Yeah, he had some difficulty getting around after that, but...still.
He was already deep into his career with the British government by the time World War II rolled around. Though he wouldn't be fighting on the front lines this time, he was intimately involved in the diplomatic strategies of the conflict, working under Sir Winston Churchill. This experience expertly prepped him for a superstar life in politics.
He held a number of ministerial positions on his way to becoming prime minister of the U.K., including being a two-time member of Parliament, secretary of state for foreign affairs, chancellor of the exchequer, a freelance birthday-party clown, and leader of the Conservative Party. Finally, after all of that, he became prime minister in 1957 and held that position until October 19th, 1963.
He worked closely with the government of the United States on the issue of nuclear weapons and the Cold War during his time as the acting leader of the U.K. The memory of the alliances between the two countries during World War II still endured, and it was a fruitful political friendship that lasted through the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. They sent each other candygrams and Valentine's Day cards and swapped tips on the best way to wash windows. (International secret: use newspaper.)
The U.K. was in a unique position during the negotiations of the PTBT. It wanted to have nuclear weapons technology and power, but it also wanted to support a ban on widespread testing. Another way of looking at this is that once the U.K. had nuclear weapons capabilities, it didn't want anyone else to have them. (Cue anti-capitalist Soviet eye roll.)
Macmillan and his government were extremely invested in the negotiations of the PTBT, but they were also trying to angle for the most beneficial timeline for themselves. This meant that they were on board for the treaty going into force, so long as the date of its ratification occurred after they had secured sufficient nuclear weapons research to be considered a nuclear power.
A couple of unique diplomatic arrangements happened between the U.S. and the U.K. during the Macmillan years. The first was the conveniently timed relaxation of the McMahon Act, which originally prohibited the U.S. government from sharing knowledge about nuclear weapons with other nations. The U.K. was able to benefit from the extensive research conducted by American nuclear scientists and speed up its own nuclear testing program.
The other was a 1958 treaty, Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for Cooperation on the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defense Purposes.
Yes, that's the name of the dang thing.
As the title states, it fully opened the conversation between the two countries on the matter of atomic energy. No wonder it was so easy for them to work together on the PTBT.
Macmillan's prime time wasn't all prim and proper, however. It was racked by political and sexual scandals that, though they weren't initiated by Macmillan himself, nonetheless tarnished his image as a morally sound leader. He resigned from office on October 19th, 1963—nine days after the PTBT went into force.
His mustache was of unlimited duration.