William Pitt
Born in London, England, in 1708, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, entered politics at the age of 27 by being elected to the House of Commons as a Tory in 1735. As a brilliant orator Pitt was reluctantly appointed to the position of postmaster general in 1746. For his honesty and integrity he was known as the "Great Commoner", but due to his critisism of of the Government's war policy, King George II dismissed him in 1755. After Britain suffered a chain of military defeats in the Seven Years War Pitt was called back to serve effectively as a wartime prime minister. After making strategic changes, Pitt eventually won the war by putting Britain into a deep amount of debt. In 1761 Pitt resigned and joined the House of Lords in July 1766, becoming 1st Earl of Chatham. During the next ten years he focused his atention on the growing crisis in North America and Britain's polices toward the American colonies. He died in England on May 11, 1778.