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V. K. Krishna Menon

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, politician who served as the Minister of Defence from 1957 to 1962. A close confidant of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, he was described as the second most powerful man in India during his premiership. Pre-1947, Menon led and represented the India League and the broader Indian independence movement in London, advocating Indian independence before both the British parliament and public.

Post-independence, he was a central figure in early Cold War international diplomacy, facilitating resolutions in situations as diverse as the Suez Crisis, Korean War, invasion of Hungary, Cyprus, Indochina, Taiwan, and the Chinese capture of American airmen, all while publicly advocating the anti-colonial ethos of what he would eventually name the Non-Aligned Movement, earning him such sobriquets in the West as "India's Rasputin" and "Mephistopheles in a Savile Row Suit", by those who feared the magnitude of his influence over Nehru and the Indian government, and his commitment to neutralism between the United States and Soviet Union. During his heyday, he variously served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador to the United Nations, Minister without Portfolio, and Defense Minister.

Noted for his eloquence, brilliance and forceful and highly abrasive personality, Menon inspired widespread adulation as well as angry detraction in both India and the West. To his supporters, he was an unapologetic champion of India in the face of Western imperialism, who famously "taught the white man his place". To his Western detractors, he was "Nehru's evil genius". US president Dwight Eisenhower characterised him as a "menace ... governed by an ambition to prove himself the master international manipulator and politician of the age", but Indian President K.R. Narayanan eulogised him as a truly great man.

He was described by some as the second most powerful man in India, in consequence of which he frequently acted as Nehru's plenipotentiary as well. Domestically, he wrote the first draft of the Preamble to the Constitution of India, conceptualized and created the Constituent Assembly of India, and worked closely with Nehru, Mountbatten, Sardar Patel, and V.P. Menon to work out the mechanics of Indian independence. Later, as Defence Minister, Menon aggressively created and accelerated India's domestic military-industrial complex and educational systems, establishing the Sainik Schools, the Defence Research and Development Organization, or DRDO, space agency INCOSPAR, later ISRO, and numerous other educational and research institutions, while accelerating and professionalizing the National Cadet Corps and similar entities.

From Indian independence until late 1962, he was internationally and domestically viewed as India's de facto Foreign Minister and foreign policy director, as well as a roving plenipotentiary speaking with Nehru's voice and authority, a frequent source of consternation to Indian diplomats as established as Nehru's own sister, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, who found herself instantly sidelined whenever Menon engaged at the United Nations.

As a young man, Menon served as founding editor of the Pelican imprint of Penguin Books. He led the overseas wing of the Indian independence movement, launching the India League in London, aggressively campaigning within the United Kingdom to win public support for Indian independence, and rallying the support of world powers such as the Soviet Union. In the immediate wake of independence, Menon emerged as engineer of and spokesman for India's foreign policy, and, more generally, architect of the non-aligned movement. He headed India's diplomatic missions to the United Kingdom and the United Nations, and distinguished himself in diplomatic matters including the Suez crisis. In 1957, Menon had set the record for the longest speech (8 hours) before the U.N. Security Council while defending India's rights to the disputed territory of Kashmir, in the process earning widespread popularity and the sobriquet "Hero of Kashmir".

Returning to India, he was repeatedly elected to both houses of the Indian parliament from constituencies as varied as Mumbai, Bengal, and Trivandrum in his native state of Kerala. He served as a minister without portfolio and later as Minister of Defence, overseeing the modernization of the Indian military and development of the Indian military-industrial infrastructure, and spearheading the Annexation of Goa. He resigned in the wake of the Sino-Indian War, following allegations of India's military unpreparedness, but remained counselor to Nehru, member of parliament and elder statesman until his death. Provided by Wikipedia