With his government programs and policies, together with his groundbreaking work at theUnited Nations and in international diplomacy, which included his role in ending the Suez Crisis, Pearson is among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century and isranked among the greatest Canadian prime ministers.[1][2]
A memorial plaque on the location of his birthplace
Pearson was born inNewtonbrook (now a part ofToronto) in the township ofYork, Ontario, the son of Annie Sarah (née Bowles) and Edwin Arthur Pearson, aMethodist (laterUnited Church of Canada) minister. Lester was the brother of Vaughan Whitier Pearson and Marmaduke "Duke" Pearson.[3] Edwin Arthur was the son of Irish immigrant Marmaduke Louis Pearson andUnited Empire Loyalist descendant Hester Ann Marsh, while both of his maternal grandparents were children of Irish immigrants.[4] When Pearson was one month old, his family moved to 1984 Yonge Street. Lester Pearson's father moved the young family north of Toronto toAurora, Ontario, where he was the minister at Aurora Methodist Church onYonge Street. Lester spent his early years in Aurora and attended the public school on Church Street. The family lived at 39 Catherine Avenue. Pearson was a member of the Aurora Rugby team.
Pearson graduated from Hamilton Collegiate Institute inHamilton, Ontario, in 1913 at the age of 16. Later that same year, he enteredVictoria College at theUniversity of Toronto,[3] where he lived in residence in Gate House and shared a room with his brother Duke. He was later elected to thePi Gamma Musocial sciences honour society's chapter at the University of Toronto for his outstanding scholastic performance in history and psychology. Just asNorman Jewison,E. J. Pratt,Northrop Frye and his studentMargaret Atwood would, Pearson participated in the sophomore theatrical tradition ofThe Bob Comedy Revue.[5] After Victoria College, Pearson won a scholarship to study atSt John's College, Oxford, from 1921 to 1923.
At the University of Toronto, Pearson became a noted athlete, excelling inrugby union and also playingbasketball. He later also played for theOxford University Ice Hockey Club while on a scholarship at theUniversity of Oxford, a team that won the firstSpengler Cup in 1923. Pearson also excelled inbaseball andlacrosse as a youth. His baseball talents as aninfielder were strong enough for a summer of semi-pro play with theGuelph Maple Leafs of the OntarioIntercounty Baseball League. Pearson toured North America with a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities lacrosse team in 1923. After he joined the University of Toronto's History Department as an instructor, he helped to coach the U of T's football andice hockey teams. He playedgolf andtennis to high standards as an adult.[6]
Pearson serving with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in World War I inSalonika
DuringWorld War I, Pearson volunteered for service as a medical orderly with the University of Toronto hospital unit. In 1915, he entered overseas service with theCanadian Army Medical Corps as a stretcher-bearer with the rank ofprivate, and was subsequently promoted tocorporal. During this period of service, he spent nearly two years in southern Europe, being shipped toEgypt and thereafter served on theSalonika front. He also served alongside theSerbian Army as a medical orderly.[7] On 2 August 1917, Pearson was commissioned a temporary lieutenant.[8] TheRoyal Canadian Air Force did not exist at that time, so Pearson transferred to Britain'sRoyal Flying Corps, where he served as aflying officer. As a pilot, he received the nickname of "Mike", given to him by a flight instructor who felt that "Lester" was too mild a name for an airman: "That’s a sissy’s name. You’re Mike," the instructor said.[9] Thereafter, Pearson would use the name "Lester" on official documents and in public life, but was always addressed as Mike by friends and family.[10]
Pearson learned to fly at an air training school inHendon, England. He survived an airplane crash during his first flight.[11][12][13] In 1918, Pearson was hit by a bus in London during a citywideblackout and was sent home to recuperate before being discharged from the service.
Ice hockey in Europe; Oxford University vs.Switzerland, 1922. Future Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson is at right front. His nickname from the Swiss was "Herr Zig-Zag".
After the war, he returned to school, receiving hisBachelor of Arts degree (BA) from theUniversity of Toronto in 1919.[14] He was able to complete his degree after one more term, under a ruling in force at the time, since he had served in the military during the war. He and his brother Duke then spent a year working inHamilton, Ontario, and in Chicago, in the meat-packing industry atArmour and Company (whose president at the time, Frank Edson White, was his uncle through marriage to Lillian Sophia Pearson White[3]),[15] which he did not enjoy.
Upon receiving a scholarship from theMassey Foundation, he studied for two years atSt John's College at theUniversity of Oxford, where he received a BA degree with second-class honours in modern history in 1923, and theM.A. in 1925.[16] After Oxford, he returned to Canada and taught history at the University of Toronto.
In 1925, he marriedMaryon Moody, from Winnipeg, who had been one of his students at the University of Toronto. Together, they had one son,Geoffrey, and one daughter, Patricia.[6] Maryon was confident and outspoken, supporting her husband in all his political endeavours.[17]
In 1927, after scoring top marks on the Canadian foreign service entry exam, he then embarked on a career in theDepartment of External Affairs.[6] Prime ministerR. B. Bennett was a noted talent spotter. He took note of, and encouraged, the young Pearson in the early 1930s, and appointed Pearson to significant roles on two major government inquiries: the 1931 Royal Commission on Grain Futures, and the 1934 Royal Commission on Price Spreads. Bennett saw that Pearson was recognized with anOBE after he shone in that work, arranged a bonus ofCA$1,800, and invited him to a London conference. Pearson was assigned to theHigh Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom in 1935.
Pearson continued to serve atCanada House duringWorld War II from 1939 through 1942 as the second-in-command, where he coordinated military supply and refugee problems, serving under high commissionerVincent Massey.[6]
Pearson returned toOttawa for a few months, where he was an assistant under secretary from 1941 through 1942.[18] In June 1942 he was posted to the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C., as a ministerial counsellor.[18] He served as second-in-command for nearly two years. Promoted ministerplenipotentiary in 1944, he became the secondCanadian ambassador to the United States on 1 January 1945. He remained in this position through September 1946.[6][18]
Pearson nearly became the firstsecretary-general of the United Nations in 1946, but was vetoed by theSoviet Union.[6] He was also the leading candidate for secretary-general in the1953 selection, when the British conducted a vigorous campaign on his behalf. He placed first with 10 out of 11 votes in the Security Council, but the lone negative vote was another Soviet veto.[20][21] The Security Council instead settled onDag Hammarskjöld of Sweden; all UN secretaries-general would come from neutral countries for the rest of the Cold War.
The Canadian prime minister,Mackenzie King, tried to recruit Pearson into his government as the war wound down. Pearson felt honoured by King's approach, but resisted due to his personal dislike of King's poor personal style and political methods.[22] Pearson did not make the move into politics until a few years later, after King had announced his retirement as prime minister.
Secretary of State for External Affairs (1948–1957)
On 10 November 1952,Trygve Lie announced his resignation assecretary-general of the United Nations. Several months of negotiations ensued between the Western powers and the Soviet Union without reaching an agreement on his successor. On 13 and 19 March 1953, theSecurity Council voted on four candidates. This came one week afterStalin's death but beforeKhrushchev's rise to power. Pearson was the only candidate to receive the required majority, but he was vetoed by the Soviet Union.[25][26]
In 1957, for his role in resolving theSuez Crisis through the United Nations one year earlier, Pearson was awarded theNobel Peace Prize.[27] The selection committee argued that Pearson had "saved the world", but critics accused him of betraying the motherland and Canada's ties with the UK. Pearson and UN secretary-generalDag Hammarskjöld are considered the fathers of the modern concept ofpeacekeeping. Together, they organized theUnited Nations Emergency Force by way of a five-day fly-around in early November 1956 after theFirst emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly. His Nobel medal was on permanent display in the front lobby of the Lester B. Pearson Building, the headquarters ofGlobal Affairs Canada in Ottawa until 2017 when the medal was loaned to theCanadian Museum of History, to be displayed in the 'Canadian History Hall'.[28]
At his first parliamentary session as opposition leader, Pearson asked Diefenbaker to give power back to the Liberals without an election, because of a recent economic downturn. This strategy backfired when Diefenbaker showed a classified Liberal document saying that the economy would face a downturn in that year. This contrasted heavily with the Liberal campaign promises of 1957.
Consequently, Pearson's party was routed in thefederal election of 1958. Diefenbaker's Conservatives won the largest majority ever seen in Canada to that point (208 of 265 seats). The Liberals lost over half their seats and were cut down to only 48 seats, the fewest in their history at the time. Furthermore, the election cost the Liberals their stronghold inQuebec. This province had voted largely Liberal in federal elections since theConscription Crisis of 1917, but Quebec had nofavourite son leader, as it had had since 1948.
Pearson convened a significant "Thinkers' Conference" atKingston, Ontario in 1960. This event developed many of the ideas later implemented when he became the prime minister.[29]
In thefederal election of 1962, the Liberals, led by Pearson, recovered much of what they had lost in their severe defeat four years earlier. Liberal gains and the surprise election of 30Social Credit MPs deprived the Tories of their majority. As a consequence, Diefenbaker now had to preside over aminority government.
Not long after the election, Pearson capitalized on the Conservatives' indecision on accepting Americannuclear warheads on CanadianBOMARC missiles. Defence ministerDouglas Harkness resigned from Cabinet on 4 February 1963, because of Diefenbaker's opposition to accepting the warheads. On the next day, the government lost two non-confidence motions on the issue,forcing a national election for a House only a year old. The Liberals raced out to a large lead in opinion polling, and for a time the only question was how large Pearson's majority would be. However, Pearson was forced off the hustings for a time due to ill health. Additionally, when theUnited States Department of Defense leaked documents detailing the proposed missile defences, the Tories claimed a Liberal government would let Canada be a decoy in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviets.
By election day, the Liberals had recovered their momentum and took 129 seats to the Tories' 95. The Liberals won 41 percent of the vote, normally enough for a majority. However, their gains were heavily concentrated in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic. Winning only three seats in the Prairies, they were five short of a majority. After six Social Credit MPs from Quebec announced their support for the Liberals,[30] Pearson was able to guarantee stable government to the governor general. Rather than face certain defeat in the Commons, Diefenbaker resigned, allowing Pearson to form a minority government. He was sworn in as prime minister on 22 April, a day before his 66th birthday.[31] While thecréditistes repudiated this statement days later, Pearson was able to stay in office with the support of theNew Democratic Party.
Pearson campaigned during the 1963 election promising "60 Days of Decision" and supported theBomarcsurface-to-air missile program. Pearson never had a majority in theHouse of Commons, but he brought in many of Canada's major updated social programs, includinguniversal health care (though that credit should be shared withTommy Douglas, who as premier of Saskatchewan had introduced the country's first medicare system), theCanada Pension Plan, andCanada Student Loans. Pearson instituted a new national flag, theMaple Leaf flag, after a national debate known as theGreat Canadian flag debate. He also instituted the 40-hour work week, two weeks vacation time, and a newminimum wage for workers in federally-regulated areas.
In hopes of winning an outright majority, Pearson called an election forNovember 1965, three years before it was due. Ultimately, the Liberals were only able to pick up three more seats, leaving them two short of a majority. As in 1963, the Liberals were almost nonexistent in the Prairies, winning only one seat there, that of Veterans Affairs ministerRoger Teillet.
Pearson also started a number ofroyal commissions, including theRoyal Commission on the Status of Women and theRoyal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. These suggested changes that helped create legal equality for women and brought officialbilingualism into being. After Pearson's term in office, French was made anofficial language, and the Canadian government provided services in both English and French. Pearson hoped to be the last unilingual prime minister of Canada, and fluency in both English and French became an unofficial requirement for candidates for prime minister after Pearson left office.
In 1966, theCanada Assistance Plan was introduced,[32] under which the federal government supported provincial social assistance costs[33] (including half the cost of various health services for those in need such as eyeglasses, dental services, and prescription drugs)[34] and (as noted by one study) “required the provinces to provide assistance to those in need.”[33]
In 1967, Pearson's government introduced a discrimination-freepoints-based system which encouraged immigration to Canada, the first country to do so.
On 15 January 1964, Pearson became the first Canadian prime minister to make an officialstate visit to France.[35]
In 1967, French presidentCharles de Gaulle made a visit toQuebec. A staunch advocate of Quebec separatism, de Gaulle went so far as to say that his procession inMontreal reminded him of his return to Paris after it was freed from theNazis during the Second World War. President de Gaulle also gave his"Vive le Québec libre" speech during the visit. Given Canada's efforts in aiding France during both world wars, Pearson was enraged. He rebuked de Gaulle in a speech the following day, remarking that "Canadians do not need to be liberated", and made it clear that de Gaulle was no longer welcome in Canada.
While in office, Pearson declined U.S. requests to send Canadian combat troops into theVietnam War. Pearson spoke atTemple University inPhiladelphia on 2 April 1965 and voiced his support for a pause in the American bombing of North Vietnam, so that a diplomatic solution to the crisis might unfold. To presidentLyndon B. Johnson, this criticism of American foreign policy on American soil was intolerable. Before Pearson had finished his speech, he was invited toCamp David, Maryland, to meet with Johnson the next day. Johnson, who was notorious for his personal touch in politics, reportedly grabbed Pearson by the lapels and shouted, "You pissed on my rug!"[37][38] Text of his Philadelphia speech, however, showed that Pearson in fact supported president Johnson's policy in Vietnam, even stating "The government and great majority of people of my country have supported wholeheartedly the US peacekeeping and peacemaking policies in Vietnam."[39][40][41]
After this incident, Johnson and Pearson did have further contacts, including two more meetings together, both times in Canada.[42] Canada's exported raw materials and resources helped fuel and sustain American efforts in the Vietnam War.[43]
Pearson's government endured significant controversy in Canada's military services throughout the mid-1960s, following the tabling of theWhite Paper on Defence in March 1964. This document laid out a plan to merge theRoyal Canadian Navy, theRoyal Canadian Air Force, and theCanadian Army to form a single service called theCanadian Forces. Military unification took effect on 1 February 1968, whenThe Canadian Forces Reorganization Act received royal assent.
John Robert Cartwright (as chief justice, 1 September 1967 – 23 March 1970; appointed a puisne justice under prime ministerSt. Laurent, 22 December 1949)
After his 14 December 1967 announcement that he was retiring from politics,a leadership convention was held. Pearson's successor wasPierre Trudeau, whom Pearson had recruited and madejustice minister in hiscabinet. Two other cabinet ministers Pearson had recruited,John Turner andJean Chrétien, served as prime ministers following Trudeau's retirement.
Pearson had planned to write a three-volume set of memoirs with the title "Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson". The first volume was published in 1972. The other two volumes were published posthumously in 1973 and 1975, but are tainted with the biases of theirghostwriters.[44][45][46]
In 1970, Pearson underwent surgery to have his right eye removed to remove a tumour in that area.[47]
In November 1972, it was reported that he was admitted to the hospital for further unspecified treatment, but the prognosis was poor. He tried to write at this juncture the story of his prime ministerial career, but his condition, which was already precarious, deteriorated rapidly by Christmas Eve.[48]
On 27 December 1972, it was announced that the cancer had spread to the liver and Pearson had lapsed into a coma. He died at 11:40 pmET on 27 December 1972 in his Ottawa home.[49]
As a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and an elected Member of theHouse of Commons of Canada, the then Honourable Lester B. Pearson, P.C., O.B.E., M.P., would be awarded the medal as a member of theCanadian order of precedence.[53]
TheCanadian Press named Pearson "Newsmaker of the Year" nine times, a record he held until his successor, Pierre Trudeau, surpassed it in 2000. He was also only one of two prime ministers to have received the honour both before and when prime minister (the other being Brian Mulroney).
A plaque, placed by theOntario Heritage Trust, is on the grounds of Newtonbrook United Church, the successor congregation to the one that owned the manse.[56][57]
In a survey by Canadian historians of the first 20 prime ministers throughJean Chrétien, Pearson ranked No. 6.[58]
In a survey by Canadian historians of the Canadian prime ministers who served after World War II, Pearson was ranked first "by a landslide".[1]
ThePearson Peacekeeping Centre, established in 1994, is an independent not-for-profit institution providing research and training on all aspects of peace operations.
TheLester B. Pearson School Board is the largestEnglish-languageschool board in Quebec.[60] The majority of the schools of the Lester B. Pearson School Board are located on the western half of the island of Montreal, while a few of its schools located off the island.
Mike's Place, the Graduate Student Pub at Carleton University was named in 1973 in honour of Lester B. Pearson with permission of his estate.[61]
The Lester B. Pearson International Student Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship for international students at theUniversity of Toronto. It covers the tuition, books, incidental fees, and full residence support.[62]
Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre[64] inElliot Lake, Ontario was heavily damaged in February 2019.[65]
Lester B. Pearson Garden for Peace and Understanding, E.J. Pratt Library in the University of Toronto, completed in 2004[66]
Lester B. Pearson Place, completed in 2006, is a four-storey affordable housing building in Newtonbrook, Toronto, near his place of birth, and adjacent to Newtonbrook United Church.[67]
Lester B. Pearson Park in St. Catharines, Ontario.[68]
Pearson Way is an arterial access road located in a new subdivision inMilton, Ontario; many ex-prime ministers are being honoured in this growing community, including prime ministersPierre Trudeau andWilfrid Laurier.
Pearson published one memoir in his lifetime. The other two were written after his death byghostwriters and they lack the authenticity.[46][44]
Pearson, Lester B. (1972).Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson. Vol. 1. University of Toronto Press.
Pearson, Lester B.; Munro, John A.; Inglis, Alexander I. (1973).Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson: 1948–1957. Vol. 2. University of Toronto Press.
Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson: 1957–1968 vol 3
Works about Pearson
Bothwell, R.Pearson (1978)
Canadian Encyclopedia. "Lester B. Pearson" (2015)online
English, John.Shadow of heaven : the life of Lester Pearson: Volume 1 1897–1948 (1990)online free
Great Canadian Flag Debate – Debate in Canada from 1963 to 1964 over the design of a new national flagPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Landon Pearson – Canadian politician, author, and children's rights advocate (1930–2023)
^O'Grady, ConnerArchived 16 June 2018 at theWayback Machine "Despite cuts and critics, Bob carries on";the newspaper; University of Toronto; 18 December 2013.
^Bukvić, Dimitrije; Dimitrijević, Marijan (15 November 2008)."Najstarija plomba na svetu" [The Oldest Filling in the World] (in Serbian).Politika. Retrieved1 July 2012.
^The Canadian Encyclopedia (1972). "He attended many international conferences and was active in the U.N. from its inception." and "He signed the North Atlantic Treaty for Canada in 1949 and represented his country at subsequent NATO Council meetings, acting as the chairman in 1951–52."
^Mojzes, P.B. (2018).North American Churches and the Cold War. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 42.ISBN978-1-4674-5057-7.Pearson served in the Department of External Affairs. He was later elected to Parliament, where he was appointed secretary of state for external affairs under Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent.
^Hamilton, Thomas J. (13 March 1953). "Soviet Veto Blocks Pearson U.N. Boom; Romulo Also Fails".The New York Times. p. 1.
^Hamilton, Thomas J. (20 March 1953). "Mme. Pandit Loses in Vote for Lie Post".The New York Times. p. 4.
^Daume, Daphne; Watson, Louise, eds. (1967).Britannica Book of the Year 1967. Chicago:Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. p. 191.OCLC42780089.Strong exports to the United States resulting from the mounting demands of the war inVietnam, combined with a booming domestic market, made 1966 a year of impressive economic growth for Canada. AlsoOCLC19056858.
^abCohen, Andrew (27 October 2007)."SYMPOSIUM: PRIME MINISTERIAL AND PRESIDENTIAL MEMOIRS".The Globe and Mail.Only the first of three volumes is his. Editors assembled the others from his papers after his death. Like Diefenbaker, both Mulroney and Chrétien carry their grudges into prose. It makes their accounts human and often affecting, even when they revise or ignore history.
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