Erskine Hamilton Childers

Erskine Hamilton Childers
Childers in 1971
4th President of Ireland
In office 25 June 1973 – 17 November 1974
Taoiseach	Liam Cosgrave
Preceded by	Éamon de Valera
Succeeded by	Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Tánaiste
In office 2 July 1969 – 14 March 1973
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Frank Aiken
Succeeded by	Brendan Corish
Minister for Health
In office 2 July 1969 – 14 March 1973
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Seán Flanagan
Succeeded by	Brendan Corish
Minister for Transport and Power
In office 27 June 1959 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach	Seán Lemass Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Brian Lenihan
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
In office 10 November 1966 – 2 July 1969
Taoiseach	Jack Lynch
Preceded by	Joseph Brennan
Succeeded by	Patrick Lalor
In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954
Taoiseach	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	James Everett
Succeeded by	Michael Keyes
Minister for Lands
In office 27 March 1957 – 23 July 1959
Taoiseach	Éamon de Valera
Preceded by	Mícheál Ó Móráin
Succeeded by	Joseph Blowick
Parliamentary Secretary
1944–1948	Local Government and Public Health
Teachta Dála
In office October 1961 – 23 June 1973
Constituency	Monaghan
In office February 1948 – October 1961
Constituency	Longford–Westmeath
In office June 1938 – February 1948
Constituency	Athlone–Longford
Personal details
Born	(1905-12-11)11 December 1905 Westminster, London, England
Died	17 November 1974(1974-11-17) (aged 68) Phibsborough, Dublin, Ireland
Cause of death	Heart failure
Resting place	Roundwood, County Wicklow, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouses	Ruth Ellen Dow ​ ​ (m. 1925; died 1950)​ Rita Dudley ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	7, including Erskine Barton and Nessa
Parents	Robert Erskine Childers Molly Alden
Relatives	Robert Caesar Childers (paternal grandfather) Gretchen Osgood Warren (aunt)
Education	Gresham's School Trinity College, Cambridge
Profession	Journalist company director
Signature

Erskine Hamilton Childers (11 December 1905 – 17 November 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the fourth president of Ireland from June 1973 to November 1974. He is the only Irish president to have died in office. He also served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1969 to 1973, Minister for Transport and Power from 1959 to 1969, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1951 to 1954 and 1966 to 1969, Minister for Lands from 1957 to 1959 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1944 to 1948. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1938 to 1973.^[1]

His father Robert Erskine Childers, an Irish republican and author of the espionage thriller The Riddle of the Sands, was executed during the Irish Civil War.