Alec Douglas-Home (1903-1995) devoted his career to British politics. Serving in the Parliament for many years, he became prime minister in November 1963 and remained in office until the Conservative Party lost the 1964 elections.

Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home was born in London on July 2, 1903, the eldest son of Charles Cospatrick Archibald Douglas-Home and Lilian Lambton, daughter of the fourth Earl of Durham. According to his biographer, Kenneth Young, his family had played an important role in English history for centuries. As the future fourteenth earl of Home, he was heir to 134,000 acres of land and coal mines in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The eldest of seven children, his younger brothers included Henry, an ornithologist; William, a playwright, and Edward. Home was raised at Springhill House in Scotland for the first sixteen years of his life and returned there as an adult after his marriage. His father taught him to love nature and...