Diefenbaker's World: A Populist in Foreign Affairs

Raymond B. Blake is a history professor at York University.

H. Basil Robinson was seconded from the Department of External Affairs
to the Prime Minister’s Office in August 1957, shortly after the
election of John Diefenbaker. He remained close to the prime minister
until leaving for the Canadian embassy in Washington just 10 months
before the Liberal return to power. Working closely with Diefenbaker,
Robinson observed him first-hand, and here presents a balanced account
of his performance in foreign affairs.

Robinson’s memoir, though limited to foreign affairs, provides
considerable insight into the mind of the much-maligned Diefenbaker. He
divides the Diefenbaker years into two distinct periods. During the
first, from 1957 to 1961, the prime minister achieved considerable
success on South Africa and other Commonwealth matters, in his dealings
with the Communist bloc, and in his relations with the United States. In
the second, from 1962 to 1963, Diefenbaker encountered serious
difficulty, particularly with the Americans over the Cuban missile
crisis and the nuclear-weapons controversy.

Robinson tries to explain Diefenbaker’s failure. First, he never
learned to separate matters of foreign policy from domestic politics; he
made decisions on foreign matters with an eye to their political
ramifications in Canada. Robinson sees this as The Chief’s nemesis.
Diefenbaker’s lack of leadership experience added to his problem, as
he felt he had to be involved directly in foreign policy; he never made
the transition from opposition to government or learned to rely on the
experts at External. Never a team player, he refused to trust others.
Even when he met other world leaders, he considered their discussions
private. And, as in domestic affairs, he procrastinated too often on
important issues.

However, Robinson makes the mistake of constantly comparing
Diefenbaker, the prime minister, with Lester B. Pearson, the minister of
external affairs. The comparison is hardly a fair one, as the two roles
are quite different. This aside, the memoir is well-written and very
interesting.