Private Demons: The Tragic Personal Life of John A Macdonald

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom, Chile and the Nazis, and The Diplomacy of War: The Case of
Korea.

Are deceased politicians entitled to absolutely no privacy? After all,
what useful purpose did C.P. Stacey’s book about the sex life of
Mackenzie King serve? If the historian can demonstrate that guilt over
Tuesday night’s activities led to child-support legislation Wednesday
morning, there may be a case. Otherwise, is voyeurism a legitimate
branch of historical writing?

Of its type, this is good historical literature. It discusses
Macdonald’s alcoholism, his philandering, his indifference toward his
son, Hugh, his moments of dishonesty, and his financial problems. Phenix
says that previous “biographers have focused almost solely on the
political side of John A.’s life, rather than on the personal side.”
This well-researched book is different. To her credit, however, Phenix
links some moments of personal weakness with Macdonald’s political
actions. During Kingston’s municipal election in 1838, Macdonald was
returning officer for Ward 3. He closed the polls early, while his
candidates held the lead, and they assumed office despite significant
doubts about their “victory.” During the parliamentary debate on the
Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849, Macdonald silenced a political opponent
with a challenge to a duel.

This book is easy to read, but it is not flawless. On page 81, Phenix
wrongly associates Fenians with the Americans who invaded Upper Canada
after the rebellion of 1837. On page 152, she says that in 1861,
“America’s Civil War commenced, with Britain taking the Confederate
side.” That is simplistic. Moreover, less than half the book deals
with Macdonald’s career as Prime Minister of Canada, barely a sixth
with the period after 1878.

Not all the horrors were of Macdonald’s making. At the age of seven,
he witnessed the murder of his younger brother. His father was cruel and
insensitive. The future prime minister lived his boyhood in an era when
society was generous with corporal punishment. His first wife, Isabella,
appears anti-social and a drug addict.

Citizens in a democracy are certainly entitled to know that their
leaders, even the highest achievers, are not always saints. The question
is, where does one draw the line?