Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
Robert Walpole built his career on a network of family relationships and the shared interest of the Whig squirearchy. It was the corrupt nature of his regime that forced him to resign in February 1742. . . . (Although the term was not used in his lifetime, historians refer to Walpole as the first prime minister, and he was the first to live at 10 Downing Street.) The twin pillars of his power were an unashamedly corrupt manipulation of ambition and greed-- encapsulated in his famous aphorism, "Every man has his price." [1001 Days]