He was President of the Board of Education (1941–45) and was responsible for the Education Act of 1944, which inaugurated universal free secondary education in England and Wales. He was an important influence in persuading the Conservative Party to accept the principles of the welfare state. Butler held several ministerial posts between 1951 and 1964, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (1951–55), but was defeated in the contest for the leadership of the Conservative Party by Harold Macmillan in 1957 and again by Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1963.