Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. DiefenbakerWinner of the Dafoe Book Prize Winner of the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography 1995 marked the 100th anniversary of that most charismatic and enigmatic public figure, the thirteenth prime minister of Canada, John George Diefenbaker. Beloved and reviled with equal passion, he was a politician possessed of a flamboyant, self-fabulizing nature that is the essential ingredient of spellbinding biography. After several runs at political office, Diefenbaker finally reached the Commons in 1940; sixteen years later he was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 1958, after a campaign that dazzled the voters, the Tories won the largest majority in the nation's history: the Liberal party was shattered, its leader, Lester Pearson, humiliated by an electorate that had chosen to "follow John." Diefenbaker's victory promised a long and sunny Conservative era. It was not to be: instead Dief gave the country a decade of continuous convulsion, marked by his government's defeat in 1963 and his own forced departure from the leadership in 1967, a very public drama that divided his party and riveted the nation. When Diefenbaker died in 1979, he was given a state funeral modeled - at his own direction - on those of Churchill and Kennedy. It culminated in a transcontinental train journey and burial on the bluffs overlooking Saskatoon, alongside the archive that houses his papers - the only presidential-style library built for a Canadian prime minister. Canadians embraced the image of Dief as a morally triumphant underdog, even as they were repelled by his outrageous excesses. He revived a moribund party and gave the country a fresh sense of purpose but hewas no match for the dilemmas of the Cold War of Quebec nationalism, or the subtleties of the country's relations with the United States. This compelling biography, illuminating both legend and man and the nation he helped shape, was among the most highly praised books of the year. |
Contents
Choosing a Party Choosing a Wife 19191929 | 34 |
A Provincial Life 19291938 | 70 |
Seats of the Mighty 19401945 | 100 |
Copyright | |
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accepted affair American April August Balcer Bennett bill British Bryce cabinet Camp campaign Canada Canadian candidate caucus committee Commonwealth Conservative Party convention Coyne Dalton Camp Davie Fulton Debates December decision defeat defence Diefenbaker told Diefenbaker wrote Diefenbaker's Diefenbaker's World Donald Fleming Edna Edna's election Elmer Diefenbaker February George Drew George Hees Globe and Mail Goodman Gordon Churchill government's Harkness Hees House of Commons Ibid issue January JGD to Elmer JGDI JGDP John Diefenbaker July June Kennedy later leader leadership Leslie Frost Liberal Party Macmillan March meeting Meighen memoirs Memorandum Menzies Nicholson November nuclear October Olive Ontario Ottawa parliament parliamentary party's Pearkes political prairie president prime minister prime minister's Prince Albert proposed province Quebec R.B. Bennett reported resignation response Robinson Saskatchewan Saskatoon seemed September Sévigny speech suggested Telegram tion took Tory United vote weapons weeks Wilson Winnipeg