Lester B. Pearson

Overview

Popular Culture

Quotes

Lester B. Pearson
Pearson in 1963.
Personal Details
Nicknames	Mike
Born	23 April 1897
Died	27 December 1972
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Ambassador Prime Minister of Canada (1963-1968)
Political Party	Liberal Party of Canada
Spouse(s)	Maryon Moody
Residence	24 Sussex Drive (1963-1968)
Military Service
Allegiance	Dominion of Canada United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service/branch	Canadian Expeditionary Force Permanent Active Militia Royal Flying Corps
Years of service	1915-1918

Lester Bowles Pearson PC OM CC OBE (23 April 1897 - 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, scholar, soldier, and diplomat who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Canada, from 1963 to 1968. Pearson's tenure is remembered for ushering major reforms during his two minority governments, such as the institution of universal healthcare, the creation of the Maple Leaf flag and the Order of Canada, and the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces. Pearson's foreign policy included accepting American nuclear Bomarc missiles on Canadian soil at the height of the Cold War, support for the peaceful transition of power in Rhodesia from the white minority to the Black majority, and a refusal to enter Canada into the Vietnam War.

Pearson enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917, and finished his World War I service after being hit in a vehicular accident caused by a blackout. After the war, Pearson became a university lecturer. Pearson served as 1st secretary in the Department of External Affairs from 1928 to 1935. After locating a leak in the government of R. B. Bennett, he was posted to the Canadian High Commission, where he served as second-in-command to Canadian High Commissioner Vincent Massey.

During the 1945 San Francisco Conference that established the United Nations, Canadian diplomats took active part in the negotiations. Pearson was a key figure among them. Pearson was responsible for drafting Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty. William Lyon Mackenzie King appointed Pearson to the position of Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1948 prior to his retirement; after winning a by-election, Pearson served in the position as part of Louis St. Laurent's cabinet.

In 1956, the Suez Canal was nationalised by Egypt under the orders of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Anthony Eden plotted alongside Prime Minister of France Guy Mollet to reassert colonial dominance via military occupation of the canal zone. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's government lead talks between the nations to prevent the outbreak of war, frustrating Eden and Mollet. The European leaders conspired with the government of Israel for the third country to invade Egyptian soil so that British and French troops could pose as peacekeepers. On 29 October, Ariel Sharon lead Israeli forces into Egypt. Nasser did not accept the Anglo-French ultimatum to cease fire, prompting the European armies to invade Egypt seeking to topple Nasser. On 2 November, Pearson rose in the United Nations General Assembly with a proposal for the creation of the United Nations Emergency Force, the first United Nations peacekeeping force. Pearson won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the crisis, the first Canadian to earn the honour.

Of his cabinet ministers, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, John Turner, and Jean Chrétien all became Prime Minister over the next three decades. Paul Martin, Jr. and Justin Trudeau, both sons of members of Pearson's cabinet, also obtained the position. In 2003, Pearson was named in surveys run by Policy Options as the best prime minister of the past 50 years. Maclean's named him 6th, 4th, and 5th best in 1997, 2011, and 2016. He was additionally named the sixth greatest Canadian overall in 2004.

Legacy

Family

Pearson's granddaughter Anne gave a speech at Stratford city hall for the marking of United Nations Day in 2023.

Memorials and Monuments

A statue of Pearson was completed in 1989. It was unveiled on Parliament Hill in 1990 by former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then-current PM Brian Mulroney, and future PM Jean Chrétien.

Links

• Lester B. Pearson on Wikipedia
• Lester B. Pearson on the Canadian Encyclopedia
• Lester B. Pearson on Encyclopædia Britannica