North's reputation among historians has varied wildly, reaching its lowest point in the late 19th century, when he was depicted as a creature of the king and an incompetent who lost the American colonies.

In the early 20th century, a revised view emerged which emphasised his strengths in administering the Treasury, handling the House of Commons, and in defending the Church of England.

Historian Herbert Butterfield, however, argued that his indolence was a barrier to efficient crisis management; he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort.

[11] He served as an MP from 1754 to 1790 and joined the government as a junior Lord of the Treasury on 2 June 1759 during the Pitt–Newcastle ministry (an alliance between the Duke of Newcastle and William Pitt the Elder).

Wilkes had made a savage attack on both the Prime Minister and the king in his newspaper The North Briton, which many thought libellous.

[14] When a government headed by the Whig magnate Charles Watson-Wentworth, Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and served for a time as a backbench MP.

As Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members.

He took over with Great Britain in a triumphant state following the Seven Years' War, which had seen the First British Empire expand to a peak by taking in vast new territories on several continents.

[17] In contrast to many of his predecessors, North enjoyed a good relationship with George III, partly based on their shared patriotism and desire for decency in their private lives.

King Louis XV of France did not believe his country was ready for war, however, and in the face of a strong mobilisation of the British fleet, the French compelled the Spanish to back down.

Louis also dismissed the Duc de Choiseul, the hawkish Chief Minister of France, who had advocated war and a large invasion of Great Britain by the French.

This was contrasted with the previous administration's failure to prevent France from annexing the Republic of Corsica, a British ally, during the Corsican Crisis two years earlier.

After 1778, the British switched the focus of their efforts to the defence of the West Indies, as their sugar wealth made them much more valuable to Great Britain than the Thirteen Colonies.

With severe manpower shortages, North's government passed an act abandoning previous statutes placing restrictions on Catholics serving in the military.

[21] Britain's fortunes in the war in America had temporarily improved following the failure of a Franco-American attack on Newport and the prosecution of a Southern strategy that saw the capture of Charleston, South Carolina and its garrison.

In April 1782, it was suggested in cabinet by Lord Shelburne that North should be brought to public trial for his conduct of the American War, but the prospect was soon abandoned.

[24] Ironically, the war began to turn in Great Britain's favour again in 1782 through naval victories, owing largely to policies adopted by Lord North and the Earl of Sandwich.

In spite of this, North was critical of the terms agreed by the Shelburne government which he felt undervalued the strength of the British negotiating position.

King George III, who detested the radical and republican Fox, never forgave this supposed betrayal, and North never again served in government after the ministry fell in December 1783.

The new Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, was not expected to last long, and North, a vocal critic, still entertained hopes of regaining high office.