Word: vansittartism
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...Whitehall this was considered double-barreled insolence on the part of Herr von Ribbentrop, for Sir Eric Phipps is the brother-in-law of the Permanent Undersecretary of the British Foreign Office, brilliant Sir Robert ("Van") Vansittart. Recently Sir Robert went on vacation to Berlin (TIME, Aug. 10). Few days later he conferred with Adolf Hitler. Last week Joachim von Ribbentrop was appointed German Ambassador to the Court of St. James...
Since the British Civil Service is by definition impeccable and incorruptible, and since the permanent secretary of a ministry-such as Sir Warren Fisher at the Treasury or Sir Robert Vansittart at the Foreign Office-is always rated as of finer moral fibre, higher intelligence and greater ability than the political transients who serve as His Majesty's Ministers, the dismissal of Sir Christopher Bullock last week implied, at the least, some sort of scandalous corruption somewhere. Nevertheless, because no permanent official of the Civil Service can well be charged with corruption without tarnishing its spotless record, Prime Minister...
...most important British news last week, though it made not even small headlines, was the quiet departure for Berlin of Sir Robert and Lady Vansittart...
...which won him his Whitehall nickname of "Machiavelli-and-soda." Sir Robert's usual professional touch was evident last week when Sir Eric Phipps, British Ambassador to Germany, discovered that his wife must pass a little time in England for her health, and so invited her sister Lady Vansittart to Berlin to be his Embassy hostess during the Olympic Games. With the innocence of a fox in lamb's clothing, Sir Robert then simply went along with his charmingly social wife to Berlin "for entirely personal reasons." At once every chancellory in Europe sprang to the alert, expecting...
...sorry figure in the House of Commons as his Sanctionist policy crashed and he did not resign. Nowadays there is an almost frightened apology in young "Tony" Eden's eyes as he goes about with the Foreign Office's astute Permanent Undersecretary Sir Robert Gilbert Vansittart, coauthor with Sir Samuel of the realistic policy which has proved "right...