opponents, as being accurate. Nicklin was not widely known when he became Premier, and while he was too modest a man to indulge in self-aggrandising publicity he was skilled enough as a politician to benefit from the way in which his reputation for decency stuck with him. Nicklin held his Cabinet to high standards. He was only forced to dismiss ministers on two occasions, once for tax evasion and once for a sexual harassment scandal, and in both cases he lied to cover the real reasons for the ministers' departure. These stories seem to be the only deliberate untruths he ever told to the public while in office. Nicklin's hold over his cabinet was firm, and there was no question that ministers who could not live up to Nicklin's standards were summarily dismissed. From 1966 Nicklin's health declined markedly, and at the end of 1967 he announced that he would retire from politics on 17 January 1968. He had served 35 years in the legislature and 27 years as leader of the non-Labor forces in Queensland. His 10 years and five months as Premier was then a Queensland record. In 1968 he was knighted, and in a rare concession to formality chose to be dubbed 'Sir Francis'. He died on 29 January 1978, aged 82. At his own choice, he was not given the pomp and ceremony of a state funeral. Assessment In many ways, Nicklin broke the mould of Queensland Premiers. Neither authoritarian nor populist in temperament, he was willing to share the power for which he had been forced to wait many years, and he was prepared to defer to those whom he knew to possess greater knowledge or talent than he. Both of these traits made his Government successful. His outstanding achievement was probably the mere fact that his Premiership was such a quiet and uneventful time. He was friendly and well liked by the people of Queensland, and was known as 'the gentleman Premier'. Still, there is some debate over whether Nicklin's geniality was entirely genuine or whether it concealed an iron fist. There were rumours that he inspired fear in his cabinet, although this is common among successful Premiers and Prime Ministers. He remains something of a paradox – determined yet open, honest and outwardly benevolent. Not the wisest or most imaginative of Queensland Premiers, he nonetheless achieved a good deal without needing to hog