Healey, Denis Winston Healey, Baron, 1917–2015, British political leader, grad. Oxford (1940). He served in the British army (1940–45), then joined the Labour party and began a long career in parliament (1952–92). He served as secretary of state for defense (1964–70) under Harold Wilson, and chancellor of the exchequer (1974–79) under Wilson and James Callaghan (see Callaghan of Cardiff, Leonard James Callaghan, Baron). He was also deputy leader of the Labour party (1980–83). As defense secretary, Healey cut British military expenditures, scrapping ships and aircraft and closing bases east of the Suez Canal. As chancellor of the exchequer during an economic crisis, he was forced to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund (1976) under terms that brought disapproval from many in his party.
See his autobiography, The Time of My Life (1989).
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