The future Lord is born as Richard Lyons in 1817 and graduates from Oxford in 1838. His father is a British diplomat and navy admiral. Richard begins his diplomatic career in 1839 in Athens, then serves with distinction throughout Italy and at the Vatican. He becomes 2nd Baron Lyons in 1858 upon the death of his father and is appointed by PM Palmerston as Ambassador to the United States, where he quickly concludes that President Buchanan is inept. His diplomatic style finds him engaging broadly through lavish dinner parties and visits to the Willard Hotel, source of the latest gossip. As the Civil War approaches he regards Southern secession as madness while also predicting a long and bloody conflict. His advocacy for non-intervention helps prevent recognition of the Confederacy as an independent nation and possible military support. He also resolves the Trent Affair, a crisis whereby the Union illegally boards a British mail carrier in international waters to remove CSA ambassadors heading to Europe. Lyons ends the matter by exaggerating a British threat of war, which leads to the release of the two CSA agents. Before ill health forces him to resign as U.S. ambassador, he befriends President Lincoln. Recovery leads to future posts in Constantinople and Paris at the height of the 1871 Franco-Prussian War. He repeatedly refuses offers to become the Foreign Secretary before his death in 1887 due to a stroke.
Lord Richard Lyons
