Robert Menzies Biography

Early Life & Family:

Robert Gordon Menzies was born on the 20
th
December 1894 at Jeparit, Victoria. His
parents were James Menzies and Kate Sampson. Robert was the fourth of five
children in the family. Roberts father was a General Storekeeper for the whole town
and a community leader as well.

Education:
Robert was sent to Ballarats Humffray Street State School,
where he eventually topped the State scholarship examination in 1907. He
studied for two years at Grenville College, which was a Ballarat private school. It
led to another scholarship, which Robert took at Wesley College, Melbourne. He
passed the exam, which gave him entry to the University of Melbourne, where he
studied and graduated in law.

Leadership:
Even before he entered politics, Robert Menzies was an out spoken person
who became active in affairs of equity writing and editing for the
University newspaper and serving as President of the Student
Representative Council. Robert became a politician in 1928 when he entered
the Legislative Council after winning an election for the province of East
Yarra. For eight months he was a Minister that didnt have a portfolio.

In 1932, Menzies became Attorney General and Minister for Railways. On the
26
th
of April 1939 Robert became Prime Minister with a new all-U.A.P
cabinet and served for 28 months in this position. He was replaced in 1941
by a series of mostly Labor Prime Ministers until he was re-elected in 1949
and served until 1966.

Achievements:
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies was knighted in 1966 after
his retirement from politics, which marked one of his
many political and professional achievements. He was
one of the most admired Australian statesmen of all
time, and served the country in one of the most difficult
times of our history World War II. He managed the
Australian economy during the war against Germany
and helped many people through the tough times.

The second amazing achievement was the record length
of time in which he held the position, and the fact that he was an elected representative for 38 years,
spending most of that time on the front bench. He was the longest serving Prime Minister with an
incredible total of 18 years. Only one other Prime Minister, John Winston Howard, came as close as
just 11 years in the role of Prime Minster.

These remarkable achievements are the reason I believe Sir Robert Menzies was a great Australian
and a great Prime Minister.





Bibliography

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/menzies-sir-robert-gordon-bob-11111

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Menzies

http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/in-office.aspx