thought that he introduced Dawson to the Astors' circle at Cliveden, the so-called Cliveden set presided over by Nancy Astor. In his second stint as editor, Dawson began to use the paper in the same manner as Lord Northcliffe had once done, to promote his own agenda. He also became a leader of a group of journalists that sought to influence national policy by private correspondence with leading statesmen. Dawson was close to both Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain. He was a prominent proponent and supporter of appeasement policies, after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. He was a member of the Anglo-German Fellowship. Candid news despatches from Berlin by Norman Ebbutt that warned of warmongering were rewritten in London to support the appeasement policy. Dawson explained to Lord Lothian on 23 May 1937: "I should like to get going with the Germans. I simply cannot understand why they should apparently be so much annoyed with The Times at this moment. I spend my nights in taking out anything which I think will hurt their susceptibilities and in dropping little things which are intended to soothe them". In March 1939, however, The Times reversed course and called for war preparations. Dawson was a lifelong friend and dining companion of Edward Wood, later Lord Halifax, who was Foreign Secretary in the period 1938–1940. He promoted the policies of the Baldwin/Chamberlain governments of the period 1936–1940. Dawson retired in September 1941 and died on 7 November 1944 in London. He was succeeded as editor by Robert Barrington-Ward. Works References Sources Fleming, N. C. "The Press, Empire and Historical Time: The Times and Indian self-government, c. 1911–47." Media History 16.2 (2010): 183–198. McDonough, Frank. "The Times, Norman Ebbut and the Nazis, 1927–37." Journal of Contemporary History 27#3 (1992): 407–424. Martel, Gordon, ed. The Times and Appeasement: The Journals of A L Kennedy, 1932–1939 (2000). The Office of the Times. The History of The Times: The 150th Anniversary and Beyond 1912–1948 (2 vol. 1952), passim. Riggs, Bruce Timothy. "Geoffrey Dawson, editor of "The Times" (London), and his contribution to the appeasement movement" (PhD dissertation, U of North Texas, 1993) online, bibliography pp 229–33. Marlowe, John. Milner, Apostle of Empire, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1976 External links Catalogue of the papers of Geoffrey Dawson at the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1874 births 1944 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British male journalists British newspaper editors Editors