William Lyon Mackenzie King
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10th Prime Minister of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office October 23, 1935 – November 15, 1948 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by | R. B. Bennett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Louis St. Laurent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office September 25, 1926 – August 7, 1930 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | George V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by | Arthur Meighen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | R. B. Bennett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office December 29, 1921 – June 28, 1926 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | George V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Governor General | The Lord Byng of Vimy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Arthur Meighen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Arthur Meighen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Berlin, Ontario, Canada | December 17, 1874||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | July 22, 1950 Chelsea, Quebec, Canada | (aged 75)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Lyon Mackenzie King
Born in Berlin (
King established a post-war agenda that lowered wartime taxes, moderately reduced tariffs, and developed the national capital,
The Conservative government's response to the depression was heavily unpopular, and thus, King returned to power in a
After leading his party for 29 years, and leading the country for 21+1⁄2 years, King retired from politics in late 1948. He died of pneumonia in mid-1950. King's personality was complex; biographers agree on the personal characteristics that made him distinctive. He lacked the charisma of such contemporaries as
Early life (1874–1891)
King was born in a frame house rented by his parents at 43 Benton Street in Berlin (
King's father was a lawyer with a struggling practice in a small city, and never enjoyed financial security. His parents lived a life of shabby gentility, employing servants and tutors they could scarcely afford, although their financial situation improved somewhat following a move to Toronto around 1890, where King lived with them for several years in a duplex on Beverley Street while studying at the University of Toronto.[10]
King became a lifelong practising Presbyterian with a dedication to social reform based on his Christian duty.[11] He never favoured socialism.[12]
University (1891–1900)
King enrolled at the University of Toronto in 1891.[2] He obtained a BA degree in 1895, an LLB degree in 1896, and an MA in 1897, all from the university.[13] While studying in Toronto he met a wide circle of friends, many of whom became prominent.[14] He was an early member and officer of the Kappa Alpha Society, which included a number of these individuals (two future Ontario Supreme Court Justices and the future chairman of the university itself). It encouraged debate on political ideas. He also met Arthur Meighen, a future political rival; the two men did not get on especially well from the start.[citation needed]
King was especially concerned with issues of social welfare and was influenced by the settlement house movement pioneered by Toynbee Hall in London, England. He played a central role in fomenting a students' strike at the university in 1895. He was in close touch, behind the scenes, with Vice-Chancellor William Mulock, for whom the strike provided a chance to embarrass his rivals Chancellor Edward Blake and President James Loudon. King failed to gain his immediate objective, a teaching position at the university but earned political credit with Mulock, the man who would invite him to Ottawa and make him a deputy minister only five years later.[15] While studying at the University of Toronto, King also contributed to the campus newspaper, The Varsity.[citation needed] King subsequently wrote for The Globe, The Mail and Empire, and the Toronto News.[16] Fellow journalist W. A. Hewitt recalled that, the city editor of the Toronto News left him in charge one afternoon with instructions to fire King if he showed up. When Hewitt sat at the editor's desk, King showed up a few minutes later and resigned before Hewitt could tell him he was fired.[16]
After studying at the University of Chicago and working with Jane Addams at her settlement house, Hull House, King proceeded to Harvard University. He earned an MA in political economy from Harvard in 1898. In 1909, Harvard granted him a PhD degree for a dissertation titled "Publicity and Public Opinion as Factors in the Solution of Industrial Problems in Canada."[17] He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to have earned a PhD.[18]
Early career, civil servant (1900–1908)
In 1900, King became editor of the federal government-owned Labour Gazette, a publication that explored complex labour issues.[19] Later that year, he was appointed as deputy minister of the Canadian government's new Department of Labour, and became active in policy domains from Japanese immigration to railways, notably the Industrial Disputes Investigations Act (1907) which sought to avert labour strikes by prior conciliation.[20]
In 1901, King's roommate and best friend,
While deputy minister of labour, King was appointed to investigate the causes of and claims for compensation resulting from the 1907
Early political career, minister of labour (1908–1911)
King was first elected to
King's term as minister of labour was marked by two significant achievements. He led the passage of the
Out of politics (1911–1919)
Industrial consultant
After his defeat, King went on the lecture circuit on behalf of the Liberal Party. In June 1914 John D. Rockefeller Jr. hired him at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, to head its new Department of Industrial Research. It paid $12,000 per year, compared to the meagre $2,500 per year the Liberal Party was paying.[25] He worked for the Foundation until 1918, forming a close working association and friendship with Rockefeller, advising him through the turbulent period of the 1913–1914 Strike and Ludlow Massacre–in what is known as the Colorado Coalfield War–at a family-owned coal company in Colorado, which subsequently set the stage for a new era in labour management in America.[26] King became one of the earliest expert practitioners in the emerging field of industrial relations.
King was not a pacifist, but he showed little enthusiasm for the Great War; he faced criticism for not serving in Canada's military and instead working for the Rockefellers. But he was nearly 40 years old when the war began, and was not in good physical condition. He never gave up his Ottawa home, and travelled to the United States on an as-needed basis, performing service to the war effort by helping to keep war-related industries running smoothly.[27]
In 1918, King, assisted by his friend F. A. McGregor, published Industry and Humanity: A Study in the Principles Underlying Industrial Reconstruction, a dense, abstract book he wrote in response to the
Quitting the Rockefeller Foundation in February 1918, King became an independent consultant on labour issues for the next two years, earning $1,000 per week from leading American corporations. Even so, he kept his official residence in Ottawa, hoping for a call to duty.[31]
Wartime politics
In 1917, Canada was in crisis; King supported Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier in his opposition to
Opposition leader (1919–1921)
1919 leadership election
The Liberal Party was deeply divided by Quebec's opposition to conscription and the agrarian revolt in Ontario and the Prairies. Levin argues that when King returned to politics in 1919, he was a rusty outsider with a weak base facing a nation bitterly split by language, regionalism and class. He outmaneuvered more senior competitors by embracing Laurier's legacy, championing labour interests, calling for welfare reform, and offering solid opposition to the Conservative rivals.[32] When Laurier died in 1919, King was elected leader in the first Liberal leadership convention, defeating his three rivals on the fourth ballot. He won thanks to the support of the Quebec bloc, organized by Ernest Lapointe (1876–1941), later King's long-time lieutenant in Quebec. King could not speak French, but in election after election for the next 20 years (save for 1930), Lapointe produced the critical seats to give the Liberals control of the Commons. When campaigning in Quebec, King portrayed Lapointe as co-prime minister.[33]
Idealizes the Prairies
Once King became the Liberal leader in 1919 he paid closer attention to the Prairies, a fast-developing region. Viewing a sunrise in Alberta in 1920, he wrote in his diary, "I thought of the New Day, the New Social Order. It seems like Heaven's prophecy of the dawn of a new era, revealed to me."[34] Pragmatism played a role as well, since his party depended for its survival on the votes of Progressive Party Members of Parliament, many of whom who represented farmers in Ontario and the Prairies. He convinced many Progressives to return to the Liberal fold.[35]
1921 federal election
In the
Prime Minister (1921–1926, 1926–1930)
As prime minister of Canada, King was appointed to the
Balancing act
During his first term of office, from 1921 to 1926, King sought to lower wartime taxes and, especially, wartime ethnic and labour tensions. "The War is over", he argued, "and for a long time to come it is going to take all that the energies of man can do to bridge the chasm and heal the wounds which the War has made in our social life."[38]
Despite prolonged negotiations, King was unable to attract the Progressives into his government, but once Parliament opened, he relied on their support to defeat
Over time, the Progressives gradually weakened. Their effective and passionate leader, Thomas Crerar, resigned to return to his grain business, and was replaced by the more placid Robert Forke, who joined King's cabinet in 1926 as Minister of Immigration and Colonization after becoming a Liberal-Progressive. Socialist reformer J. S. Woodsworth gradually gained influence and power, and King was able to reach an accommodation with him on policy matters.[41] In any event, the Progressive caucus lacked the party discipline that was traditionally enforced by the Liberals and Conservatives. The Progressives had campaigned on a promise that their MP's would represent their constituents first. King used this to his advantage, as he could always count on at least a handful of Progressive MP's to shore up his near-majority position for any crucial vote.
Immigration
In 1923, King's government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 banning most forms of Chinese immigration to Canada. Immigration from most countries was controlled or restricted in some way, but only the Chinese were completely prohibited from immigrating. This was after various members of the federal and some provincial governments (especially British Columbia) put pressure on the federal government to discourage Chinese immigration.[42]
Also in 1923, the government modified the Immigration Act to allow former subjects of Austria-Hungary to once again enter Canada. Ukrainian immigration resumed after restrictions were put in place during World War I.[43]
City planning
King had a long-standing concern with city planning and the development of the national capital, since he had been trained in the settlement house movement and envisioned town planning and garden cities as a component of his broader program of social reform. He drew on four broad traditions in early North American planning: social planning, the Parks Movement, the City Scientific, and the City Beautiful. King's greatest impact was as the political champion for the planning and development of Ottawa, Canada's national capital. His plans, much of which were completed in the two decades after his death, were part of a century of federal planning that repositioned Ottawa as a national space in the City Beautiful style. Confederation Square,[44][45] for example, was initially planned to be a civic plaza to balance the nearby federal presence of Parliament Hill and was turned into a war memorial. The Great War monument was not installed until the 1939 royal visit, and King intended that the replanning of the capital would be the World War I memorial. However, the symbolic meaning of the World War I monument gradually expanded to become the place of remembrance for all Canadian war sacrifices and includes a war memorial.[46]
Corruption scandals
King called an
King–Byng Affair
In June 1926, King, facing a House of Commons vote connected to the customs scandal that could force his government to resign, advised the
King ran the
Extending Canadian autonomy
During the Chanak Crisis of 1922, King refused to support the British without first consulting Parliament, while the Conservative leader, Arthur Meighen, supported Britain. King sought a Canadian voice independent of London in foreign affairs. In September 1922 the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, appealed repeatedly to King for Canadian support in the crisis. King coldly replied that the Canadian Parliament would decide what policy to follow, making clear it would not be bound by London's suggestions.[51] King wrote in his diary of the British appeal: "I confess it annoyed me. It is drafted designedly to play the imperial game, to test out centralization versus autonomy as regards European wars...No [Canadian] contingent will go without parliament being summoned in the first instance".[52] The British were disappointed with King's response but the crisis was soon resolved, as King had anticipated.[40] After Chanak, King was concerned about the possibility that Canada might go to war because of its connections with Britain, writing to Violet Markham:
Anything like centralization in London, to say nothing of a direct or indirect attempt on the part of those in office in Downing Street to tell the people of the Dominions what they should or should not do, and to dictate their duty in matters of foreign policy, is certain to prove just as injurious to the so-called 'imperial solidarity' as any attempt at interference in questions of purely domestic concern. If membership within the British Commonwealth means participation by the Dominions in any and every war in which Great Britain becomes involved, without consultation, conference, or agreement of any kind in advance, I can see no hope for an enduring relationship.[53]
For years,
King expanded the
Throughout his tenure, King led Canada from a dominion with responsible government to an autonomous nation within the
Other reforms
In domestic affairs, King strengthened the Liberal policy of increasing the powers of the provincial governments by transferring to the governments of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan the ownership of the crown lands within those provinces, as well as the subsoil rights; these in particular would become increasingly important, as petroleum and other natural resources proved very abundant. In collaboration with the provincial governments, he inaugurated a system of old-age pensions based on need.[60] In February 1930, he appointed Cairine Wilson as the first female senator in Canadian history.
Reductions in taxation were carried out such as exemptions under the sales tax on commodities and enlarged exemptions of income tax, while in 1929 taxes on cables, telegrams, and railway and steamship tickets were removed.[61]
Measures were also carried out to support farmers. In 1922, for instance, a measure was introduced and passed "restoring the Crow's Nest Pass railways rates on grain and flour moving eastwards from the prairie provinces." A Farm Loan Board was set up to provide rural credit; advancing funds to farmers "at rates of interest and under terms not obtainable from the usual sources," while other measures were carried out such as preventative measures against foot and mouth disease and the establishment of grading standards "to assist in the marketing of agricultural products" both at home and overseas. In addition, the Combines Investigation Act of 1923 was aimed at safeguarding consumers and producers from exploitation.[62] A Fair Wages and Eight Hours Day Act was introduced in 1930.[63]
Defeat in 1930
King's government was in power at the beginning of the
Opposition leader (1930–1935)
After his loss, King stayed on as leader of the Liberals, becoming the leader of the Opposition for the second time. King began his years as Opposition leader convinced that his government did not deserve defeat and that his government's financial caution helped the economy prosper. He blamed the financial crisis on the speculative excesses of businessmen and on the weather cycle. King argued that the worst mistake Canada could react to the Depression was to raise tariffs and restrict international trade. He believed that over time, voters would learn that they had been deceived by Bennett and would come to appreciate the King government's policy of frugality and free trade.[2]
King's policy was to refrain from offering advice or alternative policies. Indeed, his policy preferences were not much different from Bennett's, and he let the Conservative government have its way. Though he gave the impression of sympathy with progressive and liberal causes, he had no enthusiasm for the New Deal of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which Bennett eventually tried to emulate, after floundering without solutions for several years), and he never advocated massive government action to alleviate the Depression in Canada.[67]
As Opposition leader, King denounced the Bennett government's budget deficits as irresponsible, though didn't suggest his own idea of how budgets could be balanced. King also denounced the "blank cheques" parliament was asked to approve for relief and delayed the passage of these bills despite the objections of some Liberals who feared the public might conclude that the Liberals had no sympathy for those struggling. Each year, after the throne speech and the budget, King introduced amendments that blamed the depression on Bennett's policy of high tariffs.[2]
By the time the 1935 election arrived, the Bennett government was heavily unpopular due to their handling of the depression. Using the slogan "King or Chaos",[68] the Liberals won a landslide victory, winning 173 out of the Commons' 245 seats and reducing the Conservatives to a rump of 40; this was the largest majority government at the time.[2]
Prime Minister (1935–1948)
For the first time in his political career, King led an undisputed Liberal majority government. Upon his return to office in October 1935, he seemed to demonstrate a commitment (like
Economic reforms
Free trade
Promising a much-desired trade treaty with the U.S., the King government passed the 1935 Reciprocal Trade Agreement. It marked the turning point in Canadian-American economic relations, reversing the disastrous trade war of 1930–31, lowering tariffs, and yielding a dramatic increase in trade. More subtly, it revealed to the prime minister and President Roosevelt that they could work together well.[70][71]
Social programs
King's government introduced the National Employment Commission in 1936. As for the unemployed, King was hostile to federal relief.[72] However, the first compulsory national unemployment insurance program was instituted in August 1940 under the King government after a constitutional amendment was agreed to by all of the Canadian provinces, to concede to the federal government legislative power over unemployment insurance. New Brunswick, Alberta and Quebec had held out against the federal government's desire to amend the constitution but ultimately acceded to its request, Alberta being the last to do so. The British North America Act Section 91 was amended by adding in a heading designated Number 2A simply in the words "Unemployment Insurance".[73]
Over the next thirteen years, a wide range of reforms similar to those association with the New Deal were realized during Mackenzie King's last period in office as prime minister. In 1937, the age for blind persons to qualify for old-age pensions was reduced to 40 in 1937, and later to 21 in 1947.[74] In 1939, compulsory contributions for pensions for low-income widows and orphans were introduced (although these only covered the regularly employed) while depressed farmers were subsidized from that same year onwards. In 1944, family allowances were introduced. King had various arguments in favour of family allowances, one of which, as noted by one study, was that family allowances "would mean better food, clothing and medical and dental care for children in low-income families."[75] From 1948 the federal government subsidized medical services in the provinces.[76]
Spending management
The provincial governments faced declining revenues and higher welfare costs. They needed federal grants and loans to reduce their deficits. In a December 1935 conference with the premiers, King announced that the federal grants would be increased until the spring of 1936. At this stage, King's main goal was to have a federal system in which each level of government would pay for its programs out of its own tax sources.[2]
King only reluctantly accepted a Keynesian solution that involved federal deficit spending, tax cuts, and subsidies to the housing market.[72] King and his finance minister, Charles Avery Dunning, had planned to balance the budget for 1938. However, some colleagues, to King's surprise, opposed that idea and instead favoured job creation to stimulate the economy, citing British economist John Maynard Keynes's theory that governments could increase employment by spending during times of low private investment. In a politically motivated move, King accepted their arguments and hence ran deficits in both 1938 and 1939.[2]
Workers
The various provinces were assisted by the Federal Unemployment and Agricultural Assistance Act of 1938 and the Youth Training Act of 1939 to create training programs for young persons,[77] while an amendment to the Criminal Code in May 1939 provided against refusal to hire, or dismissal, "solely because of a person's membership in a lawful trade-union or association".[78]
The Vocational Training Co-ordination Act of 1942 provided an impetus to the provinces to set up facilities for postsecondary vocational training,[79] and in 1948 the Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act was passed, which safeguarded the rights of workers to join unions while requiring employers to recognize unions chosen by their employees.[80]
Housing
The Federal Home Improvement Plan of 1937 provided subsidized rates of interest on rehabilitation loans to 66,900 homes, while the National Housing Act of 1938 made provision for the building of low-rent housing.[81] Another Housing Act was later passed in 1944 with the intention of providing federally guaranteed loans or mortgages to individuals who wished to repair or construct dwellings through their own initiative.[82]
Agriculture
While King opposed Bennett's
Crown corporations
In 1937, King's government established the
In 1938, King's government
Media reforms
In 1936, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which was a crown corporation. The CBC had a better organizational structure, more secure funding through the use of a licence fee on receiving sets (initially set at $2.50), and less vulnerability to political pressure.[85] When Bennett's Conservatives were governing and the Liberals were in Opposition, the Liberals accused the network of being biased towards the Conservatives. During the 1935 election campaign, the CRBC broadcast a series of 15 minutes soap operas called Mr. Sage which were critical of King and the Liberal Party. Decried as political propaganda, the incident was one factor in King's decision to replace the CRBC.[86]
In 1938, King's government invited British documentary maker John Grierson to study the situation of the government's film production (which at that time was the responsibility of the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau). King believed that Canadian cinema deserved an increased presence in Canadian theatres.[87] This report prompted the National Film Act, which created the National Film Board of Canada in 1939. It was created to produce and distribute films serving the national interest and was intended specifically to make Canada better known both domestically and internationally.[88] Gierson was appointed the first film commissioner in October 1939.[89]
Relationship with provinces
After 1936, the prime minister lost patience when
In 1937, Maurice Duplessis, the conservative Union Nationale premier of Quebec, passed the Padlock Law (the Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda),[91] which intimidated labour leaders by threatening to lock up their offices for any alleged communist activities. King's government, which had already repealed the section of the Criminal Code banning unlawful associations, considered disallowing this bill. However, King's cabinet minister, Ernest Lapointe, believed this would harm the Liberal Party's electoral chances in Quebec. King and his English-Canadian ministers accepted Lapointe's view; as King wrote in his diary in July 1938, "we were prepared to accept what really should not, in the name of liberalism, be tolerated for one moment."[2]
Germany and Hitler
In March 1936, in response to the German
In 1937, King visited
The world will yet come to see a very great man–mystic in Hitler ... I cannot abide in Nazism – the regimentation – cruelty – oppression of Jews – attitude towards religion, etc., but Hitler ... will rank some day with Joan of Arc among the deliverers of his people.[97]
In late 1938, during the great crisis in Europe over Czechoslovakia that culminated in the Munich Agreement, Canadians were divided. Francophones insisted on neutrality, as did some top advisers like Oscar D. Skelton. Imperialists stood behind Britain and were willing to fight Germany. King, who served as his own secretary of state for external affairs (foreign minister), said privately that if he had to choose he would not be neutral, but he made no public statement. All of Canada was relieved that the British appeasement at Munich, while sacrificing the rights of Czechoslovakia, seemed to bring peace.[98][99]
Under King's administration, the Canadian government, responding to strong public opinion, especially in Quebec, refused to expand immigration opportunities for
Second World War
King accompanied the Royal Couple—King George VI and Queen Elizabeth—throughout their 1939 cross-Canada tour, as well as on their American visit, a few months before the start of World War II.[103]
Declaration of war
According to historian Norman Hillmer, as British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain "negotiated in Munich with Adolf Hitler in September 1938, Mackenzie King, Canada's Prime Minister, grew agitated."[104] King realized the likelihood of World War II and began mobilizing on August 25, 1939, with full mobilization on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. In 1914, Canada was at war by virtue of King George V's declaration. In 1939, King asserted Canada's autonomy and convened the House of Commons on September 7, nearly a month ahead of schedule, to discuss the government's intention to enter the war. King affirmed Canadian autonomy by saying that the Canadian Parliament would make the final decision on the issue of going to war. He reassured the pro-British Canadians that Parliament would surely decide that Canada would be at Britain's side if Great Britain was drawn into a major war. At the same time, he reassured those who were suspicious of British influence in Canada by promising that Canada would not participate in British colonial wars. His Quebec lieutenant, Ernest Lapointe, promised French Canadians that the government would not introduce conscription for overseas service; individual participation would be voluntary. These promises made it possible for Parliament to agree almost unanimously to declare war on September 9. On September 10, King, through his high commissioner in London, issued a request to King George VI, asking him, in his capacity as King of Canada, to declare Canada at war against Germany.[105][106][107]
Foreign policy
To re-arm Canada, King built the Royal Canadian Air Force as a viable military power, while at the same time keeping it separate from Britain's Royal Air Force. He was instrumental in obtaining the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Agreement, which was signed in Ottawa in December 1939, binding Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Australia to a program that eventually trained half the airmen from those four nations in the Second World War.[108]
King linked Canada more and more closely to the United States, signing an agreement with Roosevelt at Ogdensburg, New York, in August 1940 that provided for the close cooperation of Canadian and American forces, despite the fact that the U.S. remained officially neutral until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. During the war the Americans took virtual control of the Yukon in building the Alaska Highway, and major airbases in Newfoundland, at that time under British governance.[109]
King—and Canada—were largely ignored by
During the war, Canada rapidly expanded its diplomatic missions abroad. While Canada hosted two major Allied conferences in Quebec in 1943 and 1944, neither King nor his senior generals and admirals were invited to take part in any of the discussions.[115]
Political affairs
King's government made an unprecedented intervention in the
King rejected any notion of a government of national unity like the Unionist Government during World War I.[108] When the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed a resolution criticizing King's government for not fighting the war "in the vigorous manner the people of Canada desire to see", King dissolved the federal parliament, triggering a federal election for March 26, 1940. He held it despite the ongoing war, unlike Britain, which formed a government of national unity and did not hold a wartime election. King won a second consecutive landslide victory, winning 179 seats – 6 more than in 1935. This was the Liberals' most successful result as of 2023[update] (in terms of proportion of seats). The Official Opposition party, the Conservatives, won the same number of seats as R. B. Bennett did in the 1935 election. King's relationship with Liberal Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn was damaged due to Hepburn spearheading the resolution criticizing the war effort.[120]
King promoted engineer and businessman C. D. Howe to senior cabinet positions during the war. King also suffered two cabinet setbacks; his defence minister, Norman McLeod Rogers, died in 1940 and his Quebec lieutenant and minister of justice and attorney general, Ernest Lapointe, died in 1941. King successfully sought out the reluctant Louis St. Laurent, a leading Quebec lawyer, to enter the House of Commons and to take over Lapointe's role. St. Laurent became King's right-hand man.[40][121]
Wartime expenditure
On June 24, 1940, King's government presented the first $1 billion budget in Canadian history. It included $700 million in war expenses compared to $126 million in the 1939–1940 fiscal year; however, due to the war, the overall economy was the strongest in Canadian history.[122]
Internment of Japanese-Canadians
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japanese Canadians were categorized as enemy aliens under the War Measures Act, which began to remove their personal rights.[123] Starting on December 8, 1941, 1,200 Japanese-Canadian-owned fishing vessels were impounded as a "defence measure."[124] On January 14, 1942, the federal government passed an order calling for the removal of male Japanese nationals between 18 and 45 years of age from a designated protected area of 100 miles inland from the British Columbia coast, enacted a ban against Japanese-Canadian fishing during the war, banned shortwave radios and controlled the sale of gasoline and dynamite to Japanese Canadians.[125] Japanese nationals removed from the coast after the January 14 order were sent to road camps around Jasper, Alberta. Three weeks later, on February 19, 1942, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which called for the removal of 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the American coastline. A historian of internment, Ann Sunahara, argues that "the American action sealed the fate of Japanese Canadians."[126] On February 24, the federal government passed order-in-council PC 1468 which allowed for the
Expansion of scientific research
King's government greatly expanded the role of the
Conscription
King's promise not to impose conscription contributed to the defeat of Maurice Duplessis's Union Nationale Quebec provincial government in 1939 and the Liberals' re-election in the 1940 election. But after the fall of France in 1940, Canada introduced conscription for home service (conscription meant for the defence of Canada only). Only volunteers were to be sent overseas. King wanted to avoid a repeat of the Conscription Crisis of 1917. By 1942, the military was pressing King hard to send conscripts to Europe. In 1942, King held a national plebiscite on the issue, asking the nation to relieve him of the commitment he had made during the election campaign. In the House of Commons on June 10, 1942, he said that his policy was "not necessarily conscription but conscription if necessary".[133]
French Canadians voted against conscription, with over 70 percent opposed, but an overwhelming majority – over 80 percent – of English Canadians supported it. French and English conscripts were sent to fight in the
Post-war Canada
1945 election
With the war winding down, King called
The Liberals were knocked down from a massive majority government to a minority government. However, they were able to govern with a working majority with the support of eight "Independent Liberal" MPs (most of whom did not run as official Liberals because of their opposition to conscription). The Liberals' decline in support was partly attributed to the introduction of conscription, which was unpopular in many parts of Canada. As King was defeated in his own riding of Prince Albert, fellow Liberal William MacDiarmid, who was re-elected in the safe seat of Glengarry, resigned so that an August 6 by-election could be held, which was subsequently won by King.[2]
Foreign affairs, Cold War
King helped found the United Nations (UN) in 1945 and attended the opening meetings in San Francisco.[136] Though he conceded that major powers such as the United States and the United Kingdom would dominate the organization, King argued that middle powers such as Canada should be given an influence on the UN based on their contributions to the settlement of disputes.[2]
King moved Canada into the deepening
Domestic achievements
After the war, King quickly dismantled wartime controls. Unlike World War I, press censorship ended with the hostilities.[138]
King's government introduced the
King also laid the groundwork for the Dominion of Newfoundland's later entry into Canadian Confederation, stating, "Newfoundlanders are no strangers to Canada, nor are Canadians strangers to Newfoundland." Pro-Confederation Newfoundlanders Frederick Gordon Bradley and Joey Smallwood argued that joining Canada would raise the standard of living for Newfoundlanders; Britain also favoured Confederation. A runoff vote was held on July 22, 1948, and 52.3 percent of voters decided that Newfoundland should enter Canada. After, Smallwood negotiated the terms of entry with King. Newfoundland entered Confederation on March 31, 1949, becoming Canada's tenth province.[140][141]
Retirement
With his health declining, King declared in May 1948 that he would not be Liberal leader going in the next election.[2] The August 7, 1948, convention (held exactly 29 years after King became Liberal leader) picked St. Laurent, King's personal choice, as the new leader of the Liberal Party.[142] Three months later, on November 15, King retired after 21+1⁄2 years as prime minister. King was the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history; he also served in the most parliaments (six, in three non-consecutive periods) as prime minister.[2]
Retirement and death (1948–1950)
King had plans to write his memoirs. However, he did not enjoy a lengthy retirement and died on July 22, 1950, at his country estate in Kingsmere[2] from pneumonia.[143] He is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.[144]
Personal style and character
King lacked a commanding presence or oratorical skills; he did not shine on the radio or in newsreels. There was scant charisma.[145] Cold and tactless in human relations, he had allies but very few close personal friends. His allies were annoyed by his constant intrigues.[146]
Scholars attribute King's long tenure as party leader to his wide range of skills that were appropriate to Canada's needs.[147]
King kept a very candid diary from 1893, when he was still an undergraduate, until a few days before his death in 1950; the volumes, stacked in a row, span a length of over seven metres and comprise over 50,000 manuscript pages of typed transcribed text.
King's
Historians have seen in his spiritualism and occult activities a penchant for forging unities from antitheses, thus having latent political import. Historian C.P. Stacey, in his 1976 book A Very Double Life examined King's secret life in detail, argued that King did not allow his beliefs to influence his decisions on political matters. Stacey wrote that King entirely gave up his interests in the occult and spiritualism during World War II.[153]
King never married,[150] but had several close female friends, including Joan Patteson, a married woman with whom he spent some of his leisure time; sometimes she served as hostess at his dinner parties.[154] He did not have a wife who could be the hostess all the time and handle the many social obligations that he tried to downplay. Editor Charles Bowman reports that, "He felt the lack of a wife, particularly when social duties called for a hostess."[155]
Some historians have interpreted passages in his diaries as suggesting that King regularly had sexual relations with prostitutes.
Legacy
Historian
Historian Christopher Moore says, "King had made 'Parliament will decide' his maxim, and he trotted it out whenever he wished to avoid a decision."[160] King was keenly sensitive to the nuances of public policy; he was a workaholic with a shrewd and penetrating intelligence and a profound understanding of the complexities of Canadian society.[161] His strength was apparent when he synthesized, built support for, and passed measures that had reached a level of broad national support. Advances in the welfare state were an example. His successors, especially Diefenbaker, Pearson, and Trudeau built the welfare state which he had advanced during the Second World War into the modern cradle-to-grave system.[162]
Historian H. Blair Neatby wrote, "Mackenzie King has continued to intrigue Canadians. Critics argue that his political longevity was achieved by evasions and indecision, and that he failed to provide creative leadership. His defenders argue that he gradually changed Canada, a difficult country to govern, while keeping the nation united."[20]
King was ranked as the greatest Canadian Prime Minister by a survey of Canadian historians.[163] King was named a Person of National Historic Significance in 1968.[164]
Memorials
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2017) |
King's likeness is used on the Canadian fifty-dollar note since 1975.
King left no published political memoirs, although his private diaries were extensively detailed. His main published work remains his 1918 book Industry and Humanity.[30]
Following the publication of King's diaries in the 1970s, several fictional works about him were published by Canadian writers. These included Elizabeth Gourlay's novel Isabel, Allan Stratton's play Rexy and Heather Robertson's trilogy Willie: A Romance (1983), Lily: A Rhapsody in Red (1986), and Igor: A Novel of Intrigue (1989).[165]
In 1998, there was controversy over King's exclusion from a memorial to the
The bridge across the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa, built following World War II, is named in his honour to recognize his contributions to the land planning of the city of Ottawa.[153]
King bequeathed his private country retreat in
The Woodside National Historic Site in Kitchener, Ontario was King's boyhood home. The estate has over 4.65 hectares of garden and parkland for exploring and relaxing, and the house has been restored to reflect life during King's era. There is a MacKenzie King Public School in the Heritage Park neighbourhood in Kitchener. Kitchener was known as Berlin until 1916.
King was mentioned in the book Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee, appearing as the subject of a nonsensical children's poem,[165] which reads "William Lyon Mackenzie King / He sat in the middle and played with string / He loved his mother like anything / William Lyon Mackenzie King."
King is a prominent character in Donald Jack's novel Me Too, set in Ottawa in the 1920s.
A character who appeared twice in the popular 1990s Canadian television series Due South was named "Mackenzie King" in obvious reference.
King is portrayed by Sean McCann in Donald Brittain's 1988 television miniseries The King Chronicle,[166] and by Dan Beirne in Matthew Rankin's 2019 film The Twentieth Century.[167]
Honours
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
---|---|---|
Order of Merit (OM) | ||
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) | ||
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal |
| |
King George VI Coronation Medal |
| |
Grand Croix de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur | ||
Grand croix de l'Ordre de la couronne de Chêne | ||
Grand cordon de l'Ordre de Léopold |
Honorary degrees
Location | Date | School | Degree |
---|---|---|---|
Ontario | 1919 | Queen's University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[171]
|
Ontario | 1923 | University of Toronto | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[172] |
Connecticut | 1924 | Yale University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[173] |
Virginia | 1948 | College of William and Mary |
Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[174] |
Ontario | 3 June 1950 | University of Western Ontario | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[175] |
Supreme Court appointments
King chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada:
- Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin(January 30, 1924 – October 1, 1924)
- Puisne Justice under Prime Minister Laurier, February 23, 1909)
- Edmund Leslie Newcombe (September 16, 1924 – December 9, 1931)
- Thibaudeau Rinfret (October 1, 1924 – June 22, 1954; appointed as Chief Justice January 8, 1944)
- John Henderson Lamont (April 2, 1927 – March 10, 1936)
- Robert Smith(May 18, 1927 – December 7, 1933)
- Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (January 14, 1930 – December 25, 1939)
- Albert Blellock Hudson(March 24, 1936 – January 6, 1947)
- Robert Taschereau (February 9, 1940 – September 1, 1967)
- Ivan Rand (April 22, 1943 – April 27, 1959)
- Roy Lindsay Kellock(October 3, 1944 – January 15, 1958)
- James Wilfred Estey (October 6, 1944 – January 22, 1956)
- Charles Holland Locke (June 3, 1947 – September 16, 1962)
Electoral record
Notes
References
Notes
- ^ King and the Liberals were briefly out of power from 1930 to 1935.
Citations
- ^ Moscovitch, Allan (February 7, 2006). "Welfare State". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Neatby, H. Blair (2016). "King, William Lyon Mackenzie". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XVII (1941–1950) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
- ^ Bliss, Michael (1994). Right Honourable Men: The Descent of Canadian Politics from MacDonald to Mulroney. Harper Collins. pp. 123–184.
- S2CID 154305556.
- ^ English, John; Stubbs, J.O., eds. (1977). Mackenzie King: Widening the Debate. Macmillan of Canada.
- ISBN 978-0-07-082304-4.
- ^ Granatstein, J.L. (2011). "King, (William Lyon) Mackenzie (1874–1950)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ^ "Downtown Heritage Walking Tour" (PDF). City of Kitchener. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ The King Family, courtesy of Parks Canada
- ISBN 0-7705-1509-6., photo between pages 96–97
- S2CID 145272228– via Taylor & Francis Online.
- ISBN 978-0-8020-1083-4., Ch. 1
- ^ "William Lyon Mackenzie King: Prime Minister and Graduate". Great Past. University of Toronto. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 37–38.
- .
- ^ a b Hardy, Reginald (July 8, 1948). "Mister Canada, Chapter V: Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword". Lethbridge Herald. Lethbridge, Alberta. p. 4.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 198–199.
- ^ "PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA Biographical Information". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ "Mackenzie King's legacy". CBC. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ a b Neatby, H. Blair (October 15, 2008). "William Lyon Mackenzie King". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 129–131.
- ^ Green, Melvyn (Winter 1979). "A History of Narcotics Control: The Formative Years". University of Toronto Law Review. 37 (1).
- ASIN B0007ISXVI., pp. 28–33
- ^ "MACKENZIE KING As I Knew Him SEPTEMBER 1950 BLAIR FRASER". Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 227–231.
- ISBN 0-679-43808-4.
- ^ Dawson 1958, ch. 10.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 248–251.
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- ^ a b King, William Lyon Mackenzie (1918). Industry and Humanity: A Study in The Principles Underlying Industrial Reconstruction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 494–495.
- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 255–265.
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- ^ ISBN 978-0-8020-3575-2.
- ^ "Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King; Item #7452". Library and Archives Canada. October 12, 1920. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-8020-4733-5.
- ^ "No. 32721". The London Gazette. June 20, 1922. p. 4621.
- ^ "No. 32870". The London Gazette. October 12, 1923. p. 6817.
- ^ Dawson 1958, p. 294; Letter of May 5, 1919.
- ^ Dawson 1958, 14, 15.
- ^ a b c d Hutchison (1952)
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- ^ Dawson 1958, pp. 401–422.
- ^ Dawson 1958, p. 409.
- ^ Dawson 1958, p. 419.
- ^ Hillmer, Norman; Scott, Jeff (February 7, 2006). "Halibut Treaty". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
- ^ Granatstein & Hillmer 1999, pp. 87, 95.
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- ^ Neatby (1963), Vol. 2, p. 32.
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- ^ Mackenzie King, by Norman McLeod Rogers; a revised and extended edition of a biographical sketch by John Lewis, 1925
- ^ Labour Legislation in Canada A Historical Outline of the Principal Dominion and Provincial Labour Laws, August, 1945 By Canada. Department of Labour. Legislation Branch, 1945
- ^ Neatby (1963), Vol. 2, p. 312
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- ^ Neatby (1963), Vol. 2, Ch. 15, quote p. 318
- ASIN B000GPCV06., Ch. 2
- ^ ""It's King or chaos"". Parli.ca. July 7, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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- ^ Foundations of the Welfare State, 2nd Edition by Pat Thane, published 1996
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- ^ "MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW VOLUME 49: JULY TO DECEMBER 1939". 1939.
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- ^ "MOB! CAPE's mobilization bulletin". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
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- ^ Eaman, Ross (April 9, 2012). "CBC/Radio-Canada". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ "The Birth and Death of The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (1932–1936) Archived 2006-10-10 at the Wayback Machine," Canadian Communications Foundation, accessed April 11, 2022
- ^ Matlin, Julie (August 12, 2009). "The Founding of the NFB". NFB Blog. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- ^ Ménard, Denise; Thomas, Suzanne; Moore, Christopher (February 7, 2006). "Music at the National Film Board of Canada". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ Morris, Peter; Wise, Wyndham (November 3, 2011). "National Film Board of Canada". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
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- ^ "Mackenzie King in Berlin". A Real Companion and Friend: The diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on October 31, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
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- ^ Neatby (1976), pp. 287–293
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- ^ "J. S. Woodsworth, no to war with Germany, Sept., 1939". Great Canadian Speeches. September 2, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
...only Woodsworth and two MPs from Quebec opposed participation in the war.
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- ^ a b Stacey, C. P. (1970). Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939–1945. Queen's Printer.
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- ^ "Food on the Home Front during the Second World War". Wartime Canada. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
Particularly after the fall of France in June 1940, Canadian food exports provided an essential lifeline to Britain.
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- ^ von Moos, Kristy (November 8, 2018). "The Canadian economy and the Second World War". Ingenium. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ J. L. Granatstein, "Happily on the Margins: Mackenzie King and Canada at the Quebec Conferences," in David B. Woolner, ed., The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace: Canada, Great Britain, and the United States in 1944–1945 (1998) pp 49-64.
- ^ Granatstein, Jack; Morton, Desmond (2003). Canada and the Two World Wars. Toronto: KeyPorter. p. 179.
- ^ Sarra-Bournet, Michel. "DUPLESSIS, MAURICE LE NOBLET". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
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- ^ Paulin, Marguerite (2005). Maurice Duplessis. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 116.
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During this period, the Minister of Justice was the right hand man of the Prime Minister
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- ^ Sunahara (1981), 28.
- ^ Sunahara (1981), 37.
- ^ Sunahara (1981), 46.
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- ^ Hansard, House of Commons, June 10, 1942
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- ^ Neatby, H. Blair (1977). "King and the Historians". In English, John; Stubbs, J.O. (eds.). Mackenzie King: Widening the Debate. Macmillan of Canada.
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- ^ Granatstein & Hillmer 1999.
- ^ King, William Lyon MacKenzie National Historic Person. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada.
- ^ a b "Behind the Diary: The Private Becomes Public: The Impact of the Diary". A Real Companion and Friend: The Diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
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Further reading
Biographical
- ISBN 978-1-4434-0342-9.
- Courtney, John C. (March 1976). "Prime Ministerial Character: An Examination of Mackenzie King's Political Leadership". S2CID 154305556.
- Dawson, Robert, and H. Blair Neatby (1958). William Lyon Mackenzie King: vol. 1, 1874–1923. Online free to borrow
- English, John; Stubbs, J.O., eds. (1977). Mackenzie King: Widening the Debate. Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7705-1529-0. 11 essays by scholars.
- Esberey, Joy E. (1980). Knight of the Holy Spirit: A Study of William Lyon Mackenzie King. ISBN 0-8020-5502-8.; a psychobiography stressing his spirituality.
- Ferns, Henry; Ostry, Bernard (1976). The Age of Mackenzie King. Toronto, Ontario: James Lorimer & Company. ISBN 0-88862-115-9.; a scholarly biography to 1919.
- Henderson, George F. (2015). W.L. Mackenzie King: A Bibliography and Research Guide. ISBN 978-1-4426-5560-7.
- Hutchison, Bruce (1953). The Incredible Canadian: A Candid Portrait of Mackenzie King: His Works, His Times, and His Nation. 480pp Online free to borrow
- McGregor, Fred A. (1962). The Fall & Rise of Mackenzie King, 1911–1919. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.
- Wardhaugh, Robert A. (1996). "A Marriage of Convenience? Mackenzie King and Prince Albert Constituency". Prairie Forum. 21 (2): 177–199.; He represented the safe Saskatchewan district 1926–45; his goal was to disarm the Progressives.
- Whitaker, Reginald (1978–1979). "Political Thought and Political Action in Mackenzie King". S2CID 152214059.
Scholarly studies
- Allen, Ralph (1961). Ordeal by Fire: Canada, 1910–1945. Canadian History Series. Vol. 5. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada.
- Cook, Tim. Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King and Canada's World Wars (2012) 472pp excerpt and text search
- Cuff, R.D. and Granatstein, J.L. Canadian-American Relations in Wartime: From the Great War to the Cold War. (1975). 205 pp.
- Donaghy, Greg, ed. Canada and the Early Cold War, 1943–1957 (1998) online edition Archived May 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- Dziuban, Stanley W. Military Relations between the United States and Canada, 1939–1945 (1959)
- Eayrs, James. In Defence of Canada. 5 vols. 1964–1983. the standard history of defense policy.
- Esberey, J.B. "Personality and Politics: A New Look at the King-Byng Dispute," Canadian Journal of Political Science vol 6 no. 1 (March 1973), 37–55.
- Granatstein, J. L.Canada's War: The politics of the Mackenzie King government, 1939–1945 (1975)
- Granatstein, J.L. Conscription in the Second World War, 1939–1945;: A study in political management (1969).
- Granatstein, J. L.; Hillmer, Norman (1999). Prime ministers : ranking Canada's leaders. HarperCollins. pp. 83–101. OCLC 41432030.
- Macfarlane, John. "Double Vision: Ernest Lapointe, Mackenzie King and the Quebec Voice in Canadian Foreign Policy, 1935–1939," Journal of Canadian Studies 1999 34(1): 93–111; argues Lapointe guided the more imperialist Mackenzie King through three explosive situations: the Ethiopian crisis of 1935, the Munich crisis of 1938, and the formulation of Ottawa's 'no-neutrality-no-conscription' pact in 1939.
- Neatby, Blair. "Mackenzie King and the National Identity," Manitoba Historical Society Transactions, Series 3, Number 24, 1967–68 online
- ISBN 0-80-202397-5.
- Whitaker, Reginald. The Government Party: Organizing and Financing the Liberal Party of Canada, 1930–1958 (1977).
Primary sources
- The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs (annual, 1901–1938), full text for 1920 online and downloadable.
- Mackenzie King, W. L. Industry and Humanity: A Study in the Principles Under-Lying Industrial Reconstruction (1918) online edition; also full text online and downloadable.
- The diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King, 50,000 pages, typescript; fully searchable.
- Pickersgill, J.W., and Donald F. Forster, The Mackenzie King Record. 4 vols. Vol. 1: 1939–1944 and Vol. 2: 1944–1945 (University of Toronto Press, 1960); and Vol. 3: 1945–1946 online and Vol. 4: 1946–1947 online (University of Toronto Press, 1970). Edited from King's private diary.
- Canadian Department of External Affairs, Documents on Canadian External Relations (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1967–). These cover the period 1909–1960. (Often referred to as DCER.)
- Henderson, George F. ed W.L. Mackenzie King: a bibliography and research guide (2nd ed. University of Toronto Press, 2015); 392pp excerpt and text search
- Hou, Charles, and Cynthia Hou, eds. Great Canadian Political Cartoons, 1915 to 1945. (2002). 244pp.
- William Lyon Mackenzie King fonds at Library and Archives Canada.
Television series
- Brittain, Donald. The King Chronicle, National Film Board, 1988.
External links
- William Lyon Mackenzie King visual chronology at Wikimedia Commons
- William Lyon Mackenzie King – Parliament of Canada biography
- H. Blair Neatby, "William Lyon Mackenzie King", The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- H. Blair Neatby, "William Lyon Mackenzie King", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2005.
- Woodside National Historic Site page from Parks Canada website
- William Lyon Mackenzie King Estate Visitor's Information Archived July 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- William Lyon Mackenzie King, The secret of heroism : a memoir of Henry Albert Harper. Available on Internet Archive.
- Works by William Lyon Mackenzie King at Faded Page (Canada)
- Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War
- Mackenzie King declares war against Nazi Germany (.rm file) 1939 speech
- CBC Digital Archives – Mackenzie King: Public Life, Private Man
- Newspaper clippings about William Lyon Mackenzie King in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW