William McMahon

Sir William McMahon (23 February 1908 – 31 March 1988) was the 20th prime minister of Australia, serving from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and previously held various ministerial positions from 1951 to 1971, the longest continuous service in Australian history. McMahon was born and raised in Sydney, and worked as a commercial lawyer before entering politics. He served in the Australian Army during World War II, reaching the rank of major. After the war's end he returned to university to complete an economics degree. McMahon was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1949 federal election. Robert Menzies promoted him to the ministry in 1951 and added him to cabinet in 1956. He held several different portfolios in the Menzies government, most notably as Minister for Labour and National Service from 1958 to 1966. In that capacity, he oversaw the reintroduction of conscription in 1964. In 1966, Menzies retired and was replaced as prime minister by Harold Holt. McMahon then succeeded Holt as deputy leader of the Liberal Party. He was appointed Treasurer in the Holt government, and over the following three years oversaw a large reduction in the national deficit. After Holt's death in 1967, McMahon would have normally been the frontrunner to succeed Holt as Liberal leader and hence Prime Minister. However, he had his candidacy vetoed by John McEwen, the leader of the Liberals' junior partner, the Country Party. The new prime minister was John Gorton. McMahon initially continued on as Treasurer in the Gorton government, but in 1969 was demoted to Minister for External Affairs after an unsuccessful challenge for the leadership. He eventually replaced Gorton in March 1971 following Gorton's resignation, winning a vote against Billy Snedden. McMahon became prime minister at the...