Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, Attorney

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is the former Prime Minister of the UK; he served from 1997 through 2007, and led the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 following the death of John Smith. Blair earned a BA in Jurisprudence from Oxford in 1975, then enrolled as a pupil barrister at Lincoln's Inn.

Blair entered politics after leaving Oxford. He was aligned with the Labour Party in the 1980s, and entered as a candidate for the Hackney council elections in 1982 but did not win. He was then selected as the conservative choice in the upcoming Beaconsfield elections, but failed to secure the requisite votes. His luck changed in the 1983 general election, when he was elected as the MP for Sedgefield. Blair expressed support for socialism in his first speech to the House of Commons in 1983, arguing that socialism stands for a rational and moral existence. He questioned the Bank of England's decision to rescue the failing Johnson Matthey Bank in 1985, and became a spokesperson for the Shadow Trade and Industry in 1987.

Following that appointment, Blair ran for Shadow Cabinet election. In 1992, he became the Shadow Home Secretary after the resignation of former leader John Smith. Throughout his career as Secretary, Blair implemented changes to minimize union influence and get rid of outdated policies.

An emergency leadership election took place in 1994, when John Smith died of a heart attack. Blair won the election to become Leader of the Opposition, and was subsequently appointed to the role of Privy Councillor. Blair headed the socialistic party, which had an advantage over the Conservative government. Blair advocated for education as a top priority while he was in office.

Three years later, in May 1997, Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Simultaneously, he was the First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Labour Party. Upon accepting the position of Prime Minister, he was the second-youngest PM since 1812. Blair played a key role in furthering the Northern Ireland peace process by negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of conflict. He also supported President George W. Bush's foreign policy agenda, and ordered British troops into combat five times during his first six years as PM. Notable military deployments include Iraq (1998 and 2003), Kosovo (1999), Sierra Leone (2000), and Afghanistan (2001).

Blair supported military intervention in the Kosovo War, which was met with less enthusiasm by US President Bill Clinton. He joined President George W. Bush in combating the war on terrorism, which ranged from 2001-2003. Blair received criticism for his military aid to the US in Iraq, but he defended his actions until 2010, when he publicly apologized for his adamant military support. Mounting social pressures and accusations of misleading Parliament forced Blair to resign in 2007 as the Prime Minister and head of the Labour Party.

As Prime Minister, Blair focused on improving life for citizens by instituting a new National Minimum Wage, employment rights, and constitutional rights protecting the rights of gay citizens via the Civil Partnership Act of 2004. He also spent more on public transportation. Blair was a proponent of furthering global efforts to minimize climate change, and made visits to the US Congress proposing stronger environmental initiatives. Blair worked to improve international relations, and developed friendships with Silvio Berlusconi, Angela Merkel, and Nicolas Sarkozy. He also befriended US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Blair supported Israel as PM, as well as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. He had a cooler relationship with President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Following resignation as PM, Blair became the Middle East convoy for the UN, EU, US, and Russia. He created a new peace plan for Palestine in 2008, and formally resigned from his position in 2015.

Blair then found work as a professor at Yale University, where he taught courses on faith and globalization at the Yale Schools of Management and Divinity. His teachings proved so popular that the Faith and Globalization Initiative was launched a year later in 2009.

Tony Blair founded Tony Blair Associates after 2010 as a way to partner with global leaders on economic improvement and climate change. He also established the Tony Blair Sports Foundation in 2007, which works to improve childhood health and reduce obesity. The Tony Blair Institute, created in 2016, promotes global outlooks and initiatives on the part of governments and organizations. Blair has also donated to charities, and he has authored several memoirs on issues of injured soldiers and his involvement in global wars.

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
Oxford University	Jurisprudence	Law School	1975

• 2003: Congressional Gold Medal
  2008: Honorary Doctor of Law (LLD) from Queen’s University Belfast
  2009: Presidential Medal of Freedom
  2009: David Dan Prize
  2010: Liberty Medal
  

• A Journey (2010)
  The Courage of Our Convictions (2002)
  Superpower: Not Superstate? (Federal Trust European Essays). (2000)
  The Third Way: New Politics for the New Century. Fabian Society (1998)
  Leading the Way: New Vision for Local Government (1998)
  New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country (1997)
  Let Us Face the Future (1995)
  What Price a Safe Society? (1994)
  Socialism (1994)