Robert Menzies facts for kids

Rt Hon Sir Robert Menzies
12th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 26 April 1939 – 26 August 1941 19 December 1949 – 26 January 1966
Preceded by	Earle Page Ben Chifley
Succeeded by	Arthur Fadden Harold Holt
Constituency	Kooyong (Victoria)
Personal details
Born	(1894-12-20)20 December 1894 Jeparit, Victoria
Died	14 May 1978(1978-05-14) (aged 83)
Political party	United Australia; Liberal

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (20 December 1894 - 14 May 1978) was the 12th Prime Minister of Australia.

Australia

He was Prime Minister for a total of 18 and half years which is the longest in Australia's history. After the death of Joseph Lyons he was elected leader of the United Australia Party and became Prime Minister in 1939. He resigned in 1941 after a lot of criticism. In 1944 he helped form the new Liberal Party. In 1949 he was re-elected Prime Minister. He stayed in the job until he retired in 1966.

Commonwealth

According to his biography in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, "Menzies belonged to a generation for whom to be Australian was automatically to be British."

Honours

• Knight of the Thistle, 1963
• Constable of Dover Castle, 1965
• Warden of the Cinque Ports, 1965

Images for kids

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  Declaration of War Broadcast, September 1939

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  Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, with his British counterpart, Sir Winston Churchill, London 1941

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  Menzies hosting a royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II

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  Grave of Sir Robert and Dame Pattie Menzies, Melbourne General Cemetery

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  The Menzies Spire at Jeparit, Victoria. In part the inscription reads: "The spire symbolises the rise to world recognition of a boy who was born in Jeparit and who rose by his own efforts to become Australia's Prime Minister and a statesman recognised and honoured throughout the world."