I am today more famous as a soldier than as a politician. In fact, as the Prime Minister, I was known for my measures to repress reform, and my popularity sank a little during my time in office.I was given the title Duke of Wellington in 1814, and went on to command my most celebrated campaigns in the Napoleonic Wars, with final victory at Waterloo in 1815. When I returned to Britain I was treated as a hero, formally honoured, and presented with both an estate in Hampshire and a fortune of £400,000.After the Battle of Waterloo, I became Commander in Chief of the army in occupied France until November 1818. I then returned to England and Parliament, and joined Lord Liverpool’s government in 1819 as Master General of the Ordnance. I undertook a number of diplomatic visits overseas, including a trip to Russia. I was elected as Prime Minister in 1828.As Prime Minister, I was very conservative; known for my measures to repress reform, my popularity sank a little during his time in office. Yet one of my first achievements was overseeing Catholic emancipation in 1829, the granting of almost full civil rights to Catholics in the United Kingdom.Feelings ran very high on the issue. I persuaded the King only by my threat of resignation. Lord Winchilsea, an opponent of the bill, claimed that by granting freedoms to Catholics I “treacherously plotted the destruction of the Protestant constitution”.