Foreign News: Back to Work

Tanned and smiling but still somewhat frail looking, Anthony Eden reported back for work at Whitehall last week after six months' absence (for an operation in Boston, a recuperation cruise on the Mediterranean). Landing in London just an hour after Sir Winston Churchill returned from his own Riviera vacation, Eden arrived amid rumors that he would not return to the Foreign Office, was about to be kicked upstairs as Deputy Prime Minister to Churchill.

Eden uneasily dodged questioners, indicating he was a little unsure himself of his future status, and took himself to 10 Downing Street to confer with the Prime Minister. Later, 10 Downing Street issued a succinct announcement: "As from next Monday...Mr. Anthony Eden will resume his duties as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs."

That was as he wanted it; Eden prefers the reality of the Foreign Office to the grander-titled but thankless anonymity of odd-job man to Churchill. Either way, the aging (56) bright young man of Torydom is still at the top of the list of prospective heirs to failing Prime Minister Churchill.