Sir john macdonald biography

We invite you to read about the different perspectives on Macdonald that appear in our biographies, and to form your own judgement of the man and his world. About Us. Contact Us. Sir John A. See previous. Introduction A master of the art of compromise and a brilliant tactical politician, Sir John A. Image Gallery. His reputation as a hard drinker is an enduring one, and his biographers tackled it directly:.

He was not. He was a spasmodic one: now and then, as the dialectic of life and politics went too savagely against him, or as the sheer strain of running or some inner compulsion, now beyond analysis, drove him. The numerous stories may be exaggerated but cannot be safely denied. A few examples suggest the general point. During the exertions and the parties of the Quebec conference of , a friend discovered Macdonald standing in his room in front of a mirror, dressed in his nightshirt, a train rug thrown over his shoulder, practising lines from Hamlet.

He was not sober. Such incidents were not always so innocent of effect. In the late stages of negotiations with the Manitoba delegates in April , Macdonald, after having been on the wagon for several months, became quite hors de combat on a Friday, and could not be got working again until the Monday. He was tired from overwork, distracted by worries, and demoralized by the sudden death of a friend.

University of Regina. Archived from the original on 13 October Retrieved 25 March National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Archived PDF from the original on 5 March Retrieved 1 July Report on industrial schools for Indians and half-breeds microform Report. Archived from the original on 29 May Retrieved 11 July Archived from the original PDF on 6 July Retrieved 28 June Canada and the World since Bloomsbury Publishing.

Penguin UK. Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times. Random House of Canada. Fernwood Publishing. Macdonald at New Reflections and Legacies. University of Regina Press. Macdonald's birthday? Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 30 December Retrieved 30 December Macdonald a white supremacist? Archived from the original on 21 October Canada's History.

ISSN Retrieved on 21 July Parks Canada. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 19 October Retrieved 6 March Retrieved on 22 March Archived from the original on 12 November Retrieved 7 September Retrieved on 13 March Sir John Alexander, P. Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on 22 August Retrieved 8 September Bank of Canada.

May Archived PDF from the original on 6 August Retrieved 17 December Archived from the original on 8 March Retrieved 9 March Macdonald toonie to celebrate 1st PM's th birthday". Archived from the original on 5 May Archived from the original on 28 January Retrieved 3 December CTV News Ottawa. Retrieved 23 June CBC News. MacDonald Road".

Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Retrieved 6 June Macdonald Road name change passed despite weeks of speed bumps". Global News. Macdonald Road ". City of Saskatoon. CTV News. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Macdonald Gravesite. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 21 March Archived from the original on 11 December Macdonald by John Dann".

Landmarks — Public Art in the Capital Region. Archived from the original on 10 July Retrieved 2 July Retrieved on 20 March Macdonald's Kingston". Kingston Historical Society. Archived from the original on 24 May Retrieved 20 February Macdonald statue removed from Kingston's City Park". Archived from the original on 28 June Retrieved 19 June Macdonald statue removed from Victoria City Hall".

Archived from the original on 11 August Retrieved 11 August Macdonald toppled during defund the police protest". Archived from the original on 30 August Retrieved 30 August Macdonald in downtown Montreal". Macdonald statue defaced overnight". Archived from the original on 11 March Retrieved 26 March Archived from the original on 4 April Macdonald's name from book prize".

Archived from the original on 30 May Retrieved 25 August Macdonald: report". Queen's University at Kingston. Archived PDF from the original on 27 February Retrieved 21 May Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, Oxford: Parker and Co. Archived from the original on 30 September Retrieved 29 September Stewart, ed.

The Encyclopedia of Canada. Toronto: University Associates of Canada. Archived from the original on 1 August University of Toronto. Archived PDF from the original on 21 August Retrieved 6 September See also: List of books about Prime Ministers of Canada. Wikimedia Commons has media related to John A. Wikiquote has quotations related to John A.

Wikisource has original works by or about: John A. Robert Baldwin. John Sandfield Macdonald. Sir Allan Napier MacNab. George Brown. Sir John J. Alexander Mackenzie. Antoine Dorion. David Mills. Edgar Dewdney. Thomas White. Archibald McLelan. Charles Carrol Colby. John Henry Pope. Mackenzie Bowell acting. Alexander Gunn. Joseph Ryan.

Francis James Roscoe.

Sir john macdonald biography

Edmund Hooper. David W. Defeated in , he resumed office after four days in the Cartier-Macdonald administration, first as postmaster-general and then as attorney-general for Upper Canada, this change of portfolios being incidental to the " Double Shuffle. The defeat of this administration and the consequent deadlock in government resulted in the formation of the " Great Coalition " which brought about the confederation of the British North American provinces.

In the formation of this coalition Macdonald played a leading part; and he came to be regarded, especially after the resignation of George Brown from the government in , as the chief architect of Confederation. He took a foremost part both in the Quebec Conference of and in the London Conference of , at which the details of the British North America Act were worked out.

In , therefore, he was selected as first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada; and he continued to fill this office, except for the period of the Mackenzie administration , until his death. His defeat in was the result of the so-called " Pacific Scandal ", and it was thought that his eclipse on this occasion would be permanent; but in he came back to power on the " National Policy " of high protection, and in the three subsequent general elections, in , in , and in , he proved invincible at the polls.

The elections of , however, were too great a strain on his health; and on June 6, , he died at Ottawa. Macdonald had not perhaps a high code of political ethics, and he at times raised opportunism almost to the level of a political principle; yet it may be doubted whether a statesman of stricter views could have guided the destinies of Canada during the difficult period of his prime ministry as successfully as he did.

In the art of managing men he was unrivalled; and there were some points, such as the safeguarding of law and order and the continuance of the British connection, on which he knew no compromise. To his initiative were due, also, the inclusion in the Dominion of British Columbia and the North West, and the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.