Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton

A department store executive appointed Minister of Food in 1940, Woolton ran Britain's wartime rationing system. Its fairness was the point: points rationing gave choice, and priority supplies of milk, orange juice and cod liver oil went to children and expectant mothers. Wartime nutrition actually improved for many of the poorest families, and infant mortality fell. He was a skilled publicist, and the 'Woolton pie' became a joke, but the administration underneath was what worked.