Robert Menzies was the man who rebuilt Australia after World War II. He was also Australia's longest serving prime minister ever, and one of the few in the modern era to have been prime minister in two different spells.
Hated and mocked by the intelligentsia, he connected with what he called "the forgotten people" - middle-class Australians who supported him in every election between 1947 and 1963. Menzies articulated classical liberal virtues, and his governments were responsible for rebuilding the economy, expansion of universities and private schools, abolition of the White Australia policy, and much more.
Born to a store-keeper and his wife in Jepparit, rural Victoria, Menzies did not have an easy journey. His schooling was financed by scholarships, as there was no public school system at this time. But he rose to be one of the leading barristers of his time while still in his 20s.
In 1966, at a time of his choosing, he resigned as prime minister, and from parliament.