William Ewart Gladstone was a British Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister .

Gladstone is famous for his intense rivalry with the Conservative Party Leader Benjamin Disraeli. The rivalry was not only political, but also personal. When Disraeli died, Gladstone proposed a state funeral, but Disraeli's will asked for him to be buried next to his wife, to which Gladstone replied, "As lived, so he died — all display, without reality or genuineness." Disraeli, for his part, said that GOM , really stood for "God's Only Mistake".