Henderson's personal networks and the politics of naval construction

The imagined Henderson continues his naval programme despite initial government opposition and works to persuade others to accept it. Committee appearances and relationships with parliamentarians, media editors and industrialists provide the proposed means. This modern scenario draws on a historical portrait of his ability to remember people's families and circumstances. His interest is treated as sincere, with personal knowledge taking the place of an assistant's briefing. Sociability coexists with privacy: others learn what he chooses to share about himself. That combination of attention, friendship and persistence supplies the model for his imagined influence on naval construction.