Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading

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Rufus Daniel Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, QC, (10 October 1860–30 December 1935), was an English politician and jurist.

A prosperous lawyer, who made his name in the Whitaker Wright case in 1904, Isaacs entered the House of Commons in 1904, as Liberal Party member for the Reading constituency, a seat he held until 1913. During this period, he served as both Solicitor General and Attorney-General in the governments of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Henry Asquith, becoming the first Attorney-General to sit in the Cabinet in 1912. In 1913, he was made Lord Chief Justice, a position in which he served until 1921.

In 1918, Isaacs was appointed Ambassador to the United States, a position in which he served until 1919, while continuing at the same time as Lord Chief Justice. In 1921, he resigned the chief justiceship to become Viceroy of India. Although he preferred a conciliatory policy, he ended up using force on several occasions, and imprisoned Mahatma Gandhi in 1922. In MacDonald's National Government in August 1931, he briefly served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, but stood down after the first major reshuffle in November due to ill-health.

Isaacs was elevated to the Peerage as Baron Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1914, and continued to rise in the Peerage: he was created Viscount Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1916; Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, and Earl of Reading in 1917; and Marquess of Reading in 1926. This is the highest rank in the Peerage reached by a Jew in British history.

He assumed the surname Rufus Isaacs, which is still used by his male-line descendants.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George William Palmer	Member of Parliament for Reading 1904–1913	Succeeded by Leslie Orme Wilson
Legal Offices
Preceded by The Lord Alverstone	Lord Chief Justice of England 1913–1921	Succeeded by The Lord Trevethin
Diplomatic Posts
Preceded by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice	British Ambassador to the United States 1918–1919	Succeeded by The Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Chelmsford	Viceroy of India 1921–1925	Succeeded by The Earl of Lytton
Preceded by The Lord Parmoor	Leader of the House of Lords 1931	Succeeded by The Viscount Hailsham
Preceded by Arthur Henderson	Foreign Secretary 1931	Succeeded by Sir John Simon
Preceded by The Earl Beauchamp	Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1934–1935	Succeeded by The Marquess of Willingdon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Marquess of Reading 1926–1935	Succeeded by Gerald Rufus Isaacs