Image via Wikipedia

Okay, this will tell you exactly how big of a nerd I was in High School.  In 1978 “Masterpiece Theatre” ran a four-part series on Benjamin Disraeli (played by a very young Ian McShane).  I not only watched all four episodes, but when it was over, I checked out as many books from the library on Disraeli as I could find.  In a matter of days, this man became one of my heroes.

Over the years Disraeli wrote many novels, including “Vivian Grey” (1826), “The Young Duke” (1831), “Contarini Fleming” (1832), “Alroy” (1833), “Henrietta Temple” (1837), “Venetia” (1837), “Coningsby” (1844), “Sybil” (1845), “Tancred” (1847), and near the end of his life “Endymion” (1880).  So what did he do between 1847 and 1880, you ask?  Well, thank you for asking.

You see, the other great love of his life was politics.  Finally elected to the British Parliament as a progressive conservative in 1837 (after six tries), Disraeli served in the House of Commons and the House of Lords (as Lord Beaconsfield) until his retirement in 1880.  During this long period of service, Disraeli also served as Prime Minister twice.  Once for a few months in 1868 and then for six years beginning in 1874. 

Disraeli loved being fashionable and he was a favorite of Queen Victoria.  During his time as Prime Minister, he extended to right to vote to hundreds of thousands of Englishmen.  He was what you might call the first “Compassionate Conservative,” enacting the Artisans Dwellings Act (1875), the Public Health Act (1875), the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1875), and the Education Act (1876).  He also introduced measures to protect workers such as the 1874 “Factory Act,”  and the “Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act” (1875), which allowed peaceful picketing.  The “Employers and Workmen Act” (1878) gave workers to right to sue employers in the civil courts if they broke legally agreed contracts. Disraeli’s great nemesis during much of his time in parliament was William Gladstone, the leader of the Liberal Party, who also served as Prime Minister from 1868-1874, from 1880-1886, and from 1892-1894. 

While I watched the miniseries on PBS, I fell in love with the political process. Disraeli made me want to run for political office (a desire I had until I became a pastor).  He is the reason I minored in Political Science in college, and why I served as an intern at the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission in 1982.  I still owe a large part of my fascination with politics to what I learned about and from this man.

Known as much for his wit as for his political prowess, Disraeli was oft-quoted.

A precedent embalms a principle.

Be amusing: never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.

Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power.

Everyone likes flattery; and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel.

Frank and explicit – that is the right line to take when you wish to conceal your own mind and confuse the minds of others.

He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

Never complain and never explain.

Never take anything for granted.

Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much, are the three pillars of learning.

You will find as you grow older that courage is the rarest of all qualities to be found in public life.

And then there is one of my favorite Disraeli quotes, one which has become a guiding principle for me:

I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.

Oh, and before I end this post, I guess I should tell you this:  Disraeli was born on this day in 1804.

A Review on Amazon.com has this to say about the miniseries:

Anglophiles will find much to admire in the 1978 production Disraeli, a comprehensive look at the political and personal lives of one of that nation’s most important historical figures. Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), played by Ian McShane (Deadwood, The Golden Compass) in a bravura performance, was "an enigma even to myself," as he puts it. Born to Jewish parents but baptized into the Anglican Church as a boy, he had already established a reputation as an author of "scandalous" novels, not to mention a silver-tongued flatterer and ladies man, when he began pursuing his political ambitions in his early thirties. His career didn’t exactly get off to a flying start; it took him five tries to win a seat in Parliament as a "progressive conservative," and even then his defiant, blustery style earned him little favor among the somnolent stiffs who comprised much of that august body, some of whom dismissed him as "a tinseled coxcomb" whose attire resembled that of "an Italian dancing master" (Disraeli was known to sport lavish amounts of jewelry early in his career). Anti-Semitism didn’t help, either. But he persevered, going on to serve twice as Prime Minister (the first and thus far only Jew to do so) and proving himself to be an eloquent and able leader with a dynamic vision that government should be more than simply a monarch ruling through an enlightened aristocracy (Rosemary Leach charmingly plays Queen Victoria, the monarch in question, with whom Disraeli formed a close and fruitful relationship).

The series also details his personal life, focusing on his 33-year marriage to the considerably older Mary Anne Lewis (Mary Peach), the widow of Disraeli’s former patron and a seemingly frivolous chatterbox whom he admittedly married for her money ("I never intend to marry for love," he said. "It’s a guarantee of unhappiness"), only to end up completely devoted to her. Along the way, Disraeli and his fellow politicians also deal with issues ranging from India and the Suez Canal to Ireland and the looming threat posed by Germany’s "Iron Chancellor," Otto von Bismarck. All of this is accomplished primarily with words (including Disraeli’s own, as well as those of scriptwriter David Butler), and there are lots of them. Disraeli isn’t exactly action-packed–indeed, this is a genteel, stately, and occasionally rather tedious undertaking–but those willing to stick with it for its four-plus hours will find no shortage of rewards. –Sam Graham