éminence grise
{{Short description|Powerful decision-maker or advisor "behind the scenes"}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
Image:Gérôme Eminence grise 1873.jpg (right, in black robes) descending the staircase of the French Palais-Cardinal, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1873)]]
An éminence grise ({{IPA|fr|eminɑ̃s ɡʁiz}}) or gray eminence is a powerful decisionmaker or advisor who operates covertly in a nonpublic or unofficial capacity.
The original French phrase referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right hand man of Cardinal Richelieu, the de facto ruler of France.{{cite book|last = O'Connell|first = D.P.|year = 1968|title = Richelieu|url = https://archive.org/details/richelieu00ocon|url-access = registration|location = New York |publisher = The World Publishing Company}} Leclerc was a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and wore the gray-colored robe of that Franciscan order, which led them use the familiar nickname the "Grayfriars" in the names of many Franciscan friaries throughout Medieval Europe.{{efn|There are different Franciscan orders and in modern times they are more often associated with a distinctive brown color following changes initiated in the 19th century. A Franciscan website explains: "The Friars Minor Conventual up to the constitutions of 1803 were bound to wear ashen gray, but in 1823 black began to prevail. The Friars Minor Observant underwent the official move from gray to brown habits at the 1895 Assisi Chapter when [Pope] Leo XIII gathered the various families of the Observance into the "Friars Minor" (Reformed, Alcantarins, Recollects, etc.). The Friars Minor Capuchin, in 1912, decided on their present chestnut color."{{cite web | access-date = 4 December 2024 | url = https://ofm.org/en/franciscan-colors.html | website = Order of Friars Minor | title= Franciscan Colors }}}} The precise color was less significant than its unmistakable contrast with the brilliant red worn by Richelieu as cardinal. The style "Your Eminence" or "His Eminence" is used to address or refer to a cardinal in the Catholic Church. Although Leclerc was never raised to the rank of cardinal, those around him addressed him as "eminence" as if he were one in deference to his close association with "His Eminence the Cardinal Richelieu".{{Cite book|last=Mould |first=Michael |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French |year=2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=New York |isbn=978-1-136-82573-6 |page=149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-FNTmUwfpEC&pg=PA149 |access-date=15 June 2012 }}
Leclerc is referred to in several popular works such as a biography by Aldous Huxley. An 1873 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, L'Éminence grise, depicts him descending the grand staircase of the Palais-Royal–originally called the Palais-Cardinal when it was built for Richelieu in the 1630s–engrossed in reading a book as an array of courtiers bow deeply towards him. The painting won the Medal of Honor at the 1874 Paris Salon.{{cite web | access-date = 4 December 2024 | website = National Gallery of Art | url = https://www.nga.gov/stories/1874-birthday-of-impressionism.html | title = 1874: The Birth of Impressionism }} Leclerc is referred to in Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers as the character Father Joseph, a powerful associate of Richelieu and one to be feared.
Historical examples
- Empress Jia Nanfeng and Empress Dowager Cixi are two examples of women who were the rulers of Imperial China in all but name. As women were (in the main) barred from reigning in their own right, the history of China is replete with cases of women exercising political power through puppet male relatives.{{cite book | last1=McMahon | first1=Keith | title=Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao | page=16 | date=2013 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | location=Lanham, Maryland | isbn=9781442222908 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gc_3IXkwG3QC | access-date=28 February 2017}}
- William de la Pole to Henry VI of England.{{cite book|last=Rimmer|first=Michael|title=The Angel Roofs of East Anglia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chClDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT188|year=2015|publisher=The Lutterworth Press|isbn=978-0-7188-4318-2|page=188}}
- John Dee is sometimes considered an éminence grise. Officially, he was the court astrologer to Elizabeth I, but exercised more power as a general advisor to the Queen.
- Joseph Stalin was frequently called an éminence grise by Leon Trotsky, whom he defeated in the succession struggles for Soviet leadership following Lenin's death in 1924.Leon Trotsky, "Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence"{{Better source needed|date=November 2017}}
- Adolf Hitler's private secretary Martin Bormann was nicknamed the Brown Eminence.{{cite book | last = McGovern | first = James | title = Martin Bormann | year = 1968 | publisher = William Morrow & Company | location = New York | page = 77 | oclc = 441132 }}
- Jean Monnet has been described as an éminence grise given his key role in drafting the Schuman Declaration.{{Cite book |last=Berend |first=Ivan T. |title=The Economics and Politics of European Integration: Populism, Nationalism and the History of the EU. |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-367-55842-0 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=50 |language=English}}
- Hendrik Verwoerd, prior to becoming prime minister of South Africa in his own right, was considered an éminence grise during his time as minister of native affairs in the cabinets of D. F. Malan and J. G. Strijdom.{{cite book| last = Patterson| first = Shelia| title = The Last Trek: A Study of the Boer People and the Afrikaner Nation | year = 1957 | publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul | location = London | page = 108 }}
- Mikhail Suslov acted as an éminence grise behind General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. A political hardliner, he was the Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union but also played the role of unofficial Chief-Ideologue of the CPSU and one of the key decision makers during not only the Brezhnev, but also the Khrushchev and Stalin eras. Other observers however have given the title of éminence grise during the Brezhnev era variously to Yuri Andropov, Dmitry Ustinov, Andrei Gromyko, and Konstantin Chernenko.{{Cite web|url=https://qrius.com/the-grey-cardinals-of-modern-day-russia-and-china/amp/|title=The 'Grey Cardinals' of modern-day Russia and China|date=March 16, 2018|website=Qrius}}
- Marcia Williams, private secretary and later Political Secretary to British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was described as his éminence grise.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiK-SiwmvfgC&dq=%22eminence+grise%22+%22Marcia+williams%22&pg=PA168|title=The Last Foundling: The Memoir of an Underdog|publisher=Cloud Designing|isbn=9780957200623 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_igqAAAAYAAJ&q=+%22Marcia+williams%22|title=Women and Power|first=Rosalind|last=Miles|date=February 24, 1985|publisher=Macdonald|isbn=9780356106458 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQQhAAAAMAAJ&q=%22eminence+grise%22+%22Marcia+williams%22|title=The Wilson Plot: The Intelligence Services and the Discrediting of a Prime Minister|first=David|last=Leigh|date=February 24, 1988|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780434413409 |via=Google Books}}
- The Italian Christian Democratic leader Giulio Andreotti was often seen as an éminence grise, exercising great authority over the Italian government even when out of office as Prime Minister (an office he did hold three times) .{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dRZODoB-xUC&dq=andreotti+eminenza+grigia&pg=PA42|title=Andreotti. La vita di un uomo politico, la storia di un'epoca|first=Massimo|last=Franco|date=April 18, 2010|publisher=Edizioni Mondadori|isbn=9788804595632 |via=Google Books}}
- Friedrich von Hayek has been described as an éminence grise of the governments of Margaret Thatcher.{{cite book |author1=Richard Seymour |author1-link=Richard Seymour (21st-century writer) |title=The Meaning of David Cameron |date=2010 |publisher=Zero Books |isbn=9781846944567 |page=32}}
- Joker Arroyo emerged as an éminence grise to Corazon Aquino after the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos.{{Cite news|last=Branigin|first=William|date=7 October 2015|title=Joker Arroyo, key anti-Marcos figure in Philippines, dies in U.S. at 88|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/joker-arroyo-key-anti-marcos-figure-in-philippines-dies-in-us-at-88/2015/10/07/e5c550ac-6d2b-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.html}}
- Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney was described as an éminence grise of the George W. Bush administration, "a powerful but uncompromising politician with the ear of the president" regarding matters of national security and foreign policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060123/23cheney.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060117052051/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060123/23cheney.htm|date=January 23, 2006|archive-date=January 17, 2006|title=The Cheney Factor: How the scars of public life shaped the vice president's unyielding view of executive power|first=Kenneth T.|last=Walsh|work=U.S. News & World Report|quote=Lawrence Wilkerson, a Cheney critic said: "The power behind the throne — an eminence grise — that's what Dick Cheney has become."}}
- Both Alastair Campbell and Anji Hunter have been considered éminences grises of the Tony Blair ministry.{{cite news|url=https://time.com/archive/6645652/the-man-behind-the-spin/|date=31 August 2003|title=The Man Behind the Spin|first=Helen|last=Gibson|work=Time}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/uk_politics_alastair_campbell0_blair0s_eminence_grise/html/1.stm|title=Alastair Campbell: Blair's eminence grise|work=BBC News}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/nov/09/labour.mandelson|date=9 November 2003|title=Win some, lose some|work=The Guardian}} Peter Mandelson, who remained a significant figure in the later Gordon Brown ministry, has also been considered an éminence grise of New Labour in general.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/28/2008-review-celebrity?|date=December 28, 2008|title=A good year/bad year for ... Peter Mandelson|work=The Guardian}}
- American diplomat and policy maker Dennis Ross was "viewed as the éminence grise, a sort of Rasputin who casts a spell over secretaries of state and presidents", according to Middle East experts who worked with him during the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.{{cite web|last1=Cooper|first1=Helene|last2=Landler|first2=Mark|title=Obama's Peace Tack Contrasts With Key Aide, Friend of Israel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/world/middleeast/21ross.html?hp|website=The New York Times|access-date=22 January 2017|date=21 May 2011}}
- Choi Soon-sil was revealed by investigations during the 2016 South Korean political scandal to have had previously hidden political influence over the 11th President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/world/asia/south-korea-choi-soon-sil.html?_r=0|title=A Presidential Friendship Has Many South Koreans Crying Foul|date=October 27, 2016|website=New York Times}}{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/821612/a-rasputinesque-mystery-woman-and-a-cultish-religion-could-take-down-south-koreas-president-park-geun-hye/|date=October 28, 2016|title=A Rasputinesque mystery woman and a cultish religion could take down South Korea's president|website=Quartz}}{{cite web|url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/767405.html|date=October 26, 2016|title='It's actually a system where Choi Sun-sil tells the President what to do'|website=The Hankyoreh}}{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/10/116_216623.html|date=October 23, 2016|title=Investigations into 'Choi Soon-sil gate' widening|website=The Korea Times}}{{cite web|url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3025312|title=Key suspects still at large in Choi Sun-sil probe|date=October 25, 2016|website=JoongAng Ilbo}} She was perceived to be responsible for masterminding governmental policy and decision-making during Park's administration.{{cite web|title=All the Queen's men and women|url=http://graphics.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/Interactives/2017/03/south-korea-scandal-animated/index.html|website=The Straits Times|access-date=21 March 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20161025000359|title=Presidential speeches found on confidante's PC: report|date=October 25, 2016|website=The Korea Herald}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/south-koreas-presidency-on-the-brink-of-collapse-as-scandal-grows/2016/10/28/7639a2cc-1700-4ef7-a3a4-661b3ff989c4_story.html|title=South Korea's presidency 'on the brink of collapse' as scandal grows|date=October 29, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite web|url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/767846.html|title=Can Pres. Park be investigated over Choi Sun-sil scandal?|date=October 28, 2016|website=The Hankyoreh}}{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/troubling-revelations-about-seouls-shadow-president-the-korea-herald-columnist|title=Troubling revelations about Seoul's 'Shadow President': The Korea Herald columnist|date=October 27, 2016|website=The Straits Times}}{{cite web|url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3025234|title='Choi-gate' scandal snowballing|date=October 22, 2016|website=JoongAng Ilbo}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/south-koreas-leader-acknowledges-ties-to-woman-in-scandal/2016/10/25/def52790-9a91-11e6-b552-b1f85e484086_story.html|title=South Korea's leader acknowledges ties to woman in scandal|date=October 25, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post}}
- Devlet Bahçeli was regarded as an éminence grise after declaring his support for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-15 |title=Erdogan prisonnier de son alliance avec le nationaliste Bahçeli |url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1258688/erdogan-prisonnier-de-son-alliance-avec-le-nationaliste-bahceli.html |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=L'Orient-Le Jour |language=fr}}
- Wang Huning is often considered the éminence grise of three paramount leaders of China: Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping.
- Vladislav Surkov was often regarded by observers to be the éminence grise to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
- Jarosław Kaczyński was often regarded as the real leader of Poland when his Law and Justice party ruled the country, twice choosing the Prime Minister of Poland, contrary to convention, which holds that as the chairman of the ruling party, he ought to occupy the office himself (as he did from 2006 to 2007).{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8238e15a-db46-11e5-a72f-1e7744c66818|title=Jaroslaw Kaczynski: Poland's kingmaker|newspaper=Financial Times|date=26 February 2016|last1=Foy|first1=Henry}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-07/polish-premier-meets-kingmaker-kaczynski-as-shake-up-looms|title=Polish Premier Meets Kingmaker Kaczynski as Shake Up Looms|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=7 November 2017 |access-date=26 April 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/26/who-is-jaroslaw-kaczynski-the-puppet-master-of-poland-s-far-right|title = Who is Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the puppet master of Poland's far-right?|website=Euronews.com|date = 26 June 2020}} Despite being only Deputy Prime Minister (and sometimes having no formal role in government at all) he often met foreign leaders such as Merkel,{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-making-last-chance-visit-to-poland/a-37433305|title = Merkel making 'last chance' visit to Poland |website = Deutsche Welle}} Trump,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40497732|title=Trump in Poland: Five reasons why he is going there|work=BBC News|date=5 July 2017}} and Zelenskyy{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/news/joe-biden-to-travel-to-europe-for-extraordinary-summit-on-ukraine-as-3million-have-now-fled-the-country-and-20000-feared-dead-in-besieged-mariupol-alone-41447614.html|title=Joe Biden to travel to Europe for extraordinary summit on Ukraine as 3million have now fled the country and 20,000 feared dead in besieged Mariupol alone|website=Independent.ie|date=15 March 2022 }} in a manner akin to a head of government.
- Former president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev was described as an éminence grise to his successor Kassym-Jomart Tokayev until the 2022 Kazakh unrest. Through his leadership of the Security Council and the ruling Nur Otan party, Nazarbayev retained control over key decisions, guiding Tokayev's administration for the initial three years of his presidency.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-13 |title=Steppe on fire: Kazakhstan's color revolution |url=https://katehon.com/en/article/steppe-fire-kazakhstans-color-revolution |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=katehon.com}}
- Shinzo Abe was regarded as an éminence grise within his Liberal Democratic Party during his post-premiership, having led his party's largest faction before he was assassinated in 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-08 |title=Japan: Abe’s Assassination Does Not Portend Deeper Instability |url=https://www.teneo.com/insights/articles/japan-abes-assassination-does-not-portend-deeper-instability/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Teneo |language=en}}
- Bidzina Ivanishvili is often seen by observers as an éminence grise to successive Georgian Dream governments.{{Cite web |last=Avdaliani |first=Emil |date=2024-01-05 |title=The Return of Georgia’s Billionaire Éminence Grise |url=https://cepa.org/article/the-return-of-georgias-billionaire-eminence-grise/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=CEPA |language=en-US}}
- Andriy Yermak has been described as an éminence grise of Volodymyr Zelenskyy by his critics.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-06 |title=Ukrainians may be tiring but won’t compromise with Putin, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff says |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-war-andriy-yermak-interview-volodymyr-zelenskyy-russia/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}} Politico called him Kyiv's "Green Cardinal".{{Efn|Zelenskyy's surname is related to the East Slavic word "green".}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-28 |title=Andriy Yermak |url=https://www.politico.eu/list/politico-28-class-of-2024/andrii-yermak/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=Politico |language=en-GB}}
- Sue Gray, Baroness Gray of Tottenham has been regarded as an éminence grise in the Starmer ministry.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-05 |title=Starmer’s top team: key figures with influence in cabinet and behind the scenes |url=https://www.ft.com/content/9d428e1b-6ed1-4bb9-b889-8f3ffd36e656 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Financial Times |language=en-GB}} Gray had previously served as Keir Starmer's chief of staff during his time as Leader of the Opposition, and continued in this role as Downing Street Chief of Staff until October 2024.
- Elon Musk, special appointment to the Department of Government Efficiency under the second Trump administration, has been regarded as an éminence grise by various commentators.{{Cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ashley |last2=Dawsey |first2=Josh |last3=Scherer |first3=Michael |date=November 13, 2024 |title=Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, becomes Donald Trump's 'first buddy' |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/13/elon-musk-trump-presidential-transition/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 19, 2024 |quote=Now, during the transition, Musk has emerged somewhere between unofficial co-president and "first buddy", as he put it in an X posting — bounding in and out of meetings, sitting in on phone calls, weighing résumés and generally becoming as ubiquitous at Mar-a-Lago as the club's gilded inlay. |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |last=Metzger |first=Bryan |date=December 19, 2024 |title=Trump team makes clear Elon Musk isn't the leader of the GOP |work=Business Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-team-says-elon-musk-is-not-actually-in-charge-2024-12 |url-access=subscription |access-date= |quote=It came after scores of Democrats baited Trump with social media posts accusing Musk of being the actual president-elect, the "shadow president", “President Musk” or the "co-president".}}{{cite web | title=Elon Musk, éminence grise et futur "cost killer" de l'administration Trump | website=www.tf1info.fr | url=https://www.tf1info.fr/international/elon-musk-eminence-grise-et-futur-cost-killer-de-l-administration-trump-2-0-2334383.html | language=fr | access-date=February 21, 2025}}
See also
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Notes
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