Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath Dies at Age 89

Edward Heath, 89, the venerable Conservative Party politician who served as British prime minister from 1970 to 1974 and was his country's strongest advocate for European economic integration, died July 17 at his home in the southern city of Salisbury. The Guardian newspaper said he had pneumonia.

Mr. Heath, a political negotiator and strategist, musician, author and award-winning sportsman, was one of the most compelling and controversial statesmen in modern British history.

A staunch internationalist, his main political triumph was engineering the United Kingdom's 1973 entry into what is now the European Union. But his tenure at 10 Downing Street was marred by rage over economic crises and the "Bloody Sunday" attacks in Northern Ireland.

With morale diminished on the home front, he twice lost general elections in 1974 and then was overthrown as leader of his party. He retained his seat in the House of Commons, becoming its longest-serving member before retiring in 2001 as father of the House.

A Conservative stalwart, Mr. Heath nevertheless lost favor with many in his party over the issue of a combined European market. He was persistently critical of Conservatives opposed to a single European currency, maintaining that economic cooperation could prevent the sort of world war he had seen firsthand.

He reserved much of his ire for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had been Mr. Heath's education secretary and was a leading E.U. skeptic. Adding to his distaste was that Thatcher had been the one to defeat him as party leader in 1975.

"Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice," Mr. Heath was said to have shouted into a phone when Thatcher was forced out of office in 1990. That call ended what many called the "longest sulk in history."

Mr. Heath first came to prominence as a member of Parliament during the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. As chief Tory whip, he had helped engineer what seemed an improbable feat: keeping his party in power after the humiliating loss of the trade zone to the Egyptians.

He was amply rewarded, holding a series of wide-ranging governmental portfolios. In 1965, he led Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, becoming one of the first Tory leaders not of the aristocracy.

As a carpenter's son and scholarship student, his humble beginnings were used to appeal to voters and win back the prime ministership from Harold Wilson's Labor Party in 1970.

In office, Mr. Heath was thrust into the worst economic crisis in generations. Heavy unemployment, severe industrial strikes, inflation -- all during a harsh winter -- combined to create a combustible political atmosphere.

Moreover, escalating violence in Northern Ireland between Protestant paramilitary groups and the Irish Republican Army led Mr. Heath to deploy troops there and enforce direct rule over Northern Ireland. The 1972 "Bloody Sunday" killings took place under his watch, when British soldiers killed 14 unarmed Catholic civil rights protesters in Londonderry.