Sir John Nicholas Henderson, (1 April 191916 March 2009), known as Nicko Henderson, was a British diplomat and writer, who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1979 to 1982.

Life and career

Henderson was born in London, the only son and second of three children of Sir Hubert Henderson, a prominent political economist and later

Drummond Professor of Political Economy The Drummond Professorship of Political Economy at All Souls College, Oxford has been held by a number of distinguished individuals, including three Nobel laureates. The professorship is named after and was founded by Henry Drummond. List of D ...

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, and of Faith Marion Jane Henderson, ''née'' Bagenal. Nicholas was educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

and

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, and was the

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. Childhood tuberculosis disqualified him from military service during World War II. Instead, in 1942, he joined the Cairo staff of

Lord Moyne Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944), was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assass ...

, Minister Resident in the Middle East, on a temporary basis. In 1944, he was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Sir Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 195 ...

, and then to

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922– ...

. He joined the British

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to ...

in 1946 and rose to become

Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to the

in 1963. Subsequently, he served as British Ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Germany and finally France, from which post he retired in 1979 on his sixtieth birthday.

Valedictory dispatch and Ambassadorship to the United States

Upon retiring (as he thought) from the foreign service when relinquishing his post in Paris, he wrote a final dispatch titled "Britain's decline; its causes and consequences". ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

'' obtained a copy and printed it in the same year, stating "The despatch does not, needless to say, reach us from him and was presumably written for very limited circulation. But it is so unusually forthright and timely, particularly in its middle and concluding passages on British policy in Europe, under governments of every stripe, as to merit publication virtually in full." A surprise extension to Henderson's career came about because of the election of Margaret Thatcher as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in May of that year. Thatcher invited him to return to service as Ambassador to Washington, where he served until 1982. She had first asked

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

to take up the post, but he had refused the offer. Henderson was enormously popular in Washington, and he and his wife Mary formed a close personal friendship with President Ronald Reagan at a crucial time in the latter's presidency, oiling the special friendship which developed between Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. In particular, he was successful in putting forward the British side of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...

in 1982, and maintaining friendly relations between the nations when that friendship was under some strain. In retirement, Henderson wrote several books on history, and an account of his career as a diplomat, ''Mandarin''. He held directorships of several major British companies, including the Channel Tunnel Group,

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

, and Hambros. He also had close ties with the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the ruler ...

, serving as

Lord Warden of the Stannaries The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from la, stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, ha ...

and Chairman of the Prince's Council (the body which oversees the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the ...

) after retiring from the Diplomatic Service. He was appointed KCVO for this service to the Crown. He gave the

Romanes Lecture The Romanes Lecture is a prestigious free public lecture given annually at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England. The lecture series was founded by, and named after, the biologist George Romanes, and has been running since 1892. Over the years ...

in 1986. In 1951, Henderson married Mary Barber (née Cawadias), a Greek-born former war correspondent for Time-Life.Xenia, the Greek spirit personified
The Telegraph, London, 17 February 2004 She died in 2004. Their only child, Alexandra Nicolette, married the photographer Derry Moore, now the 12th Earl of Drogheda. As Alexandra Henderson, she has followed a career as a television and radio producer specialising in current affairs. He was generally known as "Nicko (sp. "Nico" in Lady Thatcher's memoirs) Henderson" in private life.

Bibliography

* '' Prince Eugen of Savoy.'' Weidenfeld & Nicolson, (1966). *The Birth of NATO, 1982 *The Private Office, 1984 *Channels and Tunnels: Reflections on Britain and Abroad (1987) *''Diplomatic Immunity: Principles, Practices, Problems'' by Grant McClanahan with a foreword by Sir Nicholas Henderson (Hurst & Co. for the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 1989). *Mandarin, The Diary, 1994 *Old Friends and Other Instances, 2000 *The Private Office Revisited, 2001

In popular culture

Henderson was portrayed by

Jeremy Clyde Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to America ...

in the 2002 BBC production of

Ian Curteis Ian Bayley Curteis (1 May 1935 – 24 November 2021) was a British dramatist and television director. Life and career Curteis was born in London on 1 May 1935, and began his career as an actor, joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the m ...

's controversial ''

The Falklands Play ''The Falklands Play'' is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increa ...

''.

Diplomatic posts and offices

References

External links

The Daily Telegraph obituaryThe Guardian obituaryThe Times obituaryAppearance on Desert Island Discs (2 June 1989)Interview with Sir John Nicholas Henderson

transcript
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Nicholas Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to West Germany Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Poland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to France Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States Members of HM Diplomatic Service Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Stowe School Presidents of the Oxford Union 1919 births 2009 deaths Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 20th-century British diplomats