Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd earl

Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd earl of

(born June 7, 1770, London, Eng.—died Dec. 4, 1828, Fife House, Whitehall, London) British prime minister (1812–27). He entered the House of Commons in 1790 and became a leading Tory, serving as foreign secretary (1801–04), home secretary (1804–06, 1807–09), and secretary for war and the colonies (1809–12). The War of 1812 with the U.S. and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during his premiership. He urged abolition of the slave trade at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). Although sometimes overshadowed by his colleagues and by the duke of Wellington's military prowess, he conducted a sound administration.