William Pitt the Younger however, was comfortable with Shelburne, and thus joined his government; he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Fox, who became Pitt's lifelong political rival, then joined a coalition with Lord North, with whom he collaborated to bring about the defeat of the Shelburne administration. When Lord Shelburne resigned in 1783, King George III, who despised Fox, offered to appoint Pitt to the office of prime minister. But Pitt wisely declined, for he knew he would be incapable of securing the support of the House of Commons. The Fox–North coalition rose to power in a government nominally headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck,
William Pitt Preble William Pitt Preble William Pitt Preble (November 27, 1783 – October 11, 1857) was an American lawyer, judge, diplomat and businessman. He was one of the first Justices of the Maine Supreme Court and U.S. Minister to the Netherlands. William Pitt Preble was born in York, Maine (Maine was then a part of Massachusetts) on November 27, 1783. He graduated from Harvard University in 1806, received a master's degree from Harvard in 1809, studied law, and began a practice in York. In 1811 he was appointed County Attorney for York County. First a Democratic-Republican, and later a Democrat, in 1814