Pearson: The Unlikely Gladiator

D.M.L. Farr is professor emeritus of history at Carleton University,
where he taught Canadian political history and the history of Canada’s
external relations.

This collection of essays, derived from a 1997 conference held in Ottawa
to mark the centenary of Pearson’s birth, looks at the former prime
minister as a man, a diplomat, and a politician. A deft introductory
essay by the editor, Norman Hillmer, traces Pearson’s life, bringing
out the paradoxes implicit in his career (idealist, realist, innovator,
and resister of change, etc.), and links the contributions in the book
to aspects of Pearson’s activities. The volume is composed of two
parts: academic essays by scholars of the Pearson years and shorter
pieces, originating from panellists’ remarks, by political and
public-service associates of Pearson. With almost 20 conference
participants discussing a single individual, there is bound to be
repetition in the commentaries. There are also some inconsistencies,
most notably in discussions of the relationship between Pearson and the
father of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, Jean Lesage. Did they learn
from each other, or did one betray the other in the devising of social
security legislation?

In a collection of essays, a reviewer can only point out his favorites.
Denis Stairs contributes a thoughtful discussion of Pearson as a liberal
pluralist seeking consensus both nationally and internationally through
tolerance and reason. It is the most substantial essay in the collection
and one of the best. J.L. Granatstein brings out the similarities
between the political rivals, Pearson and John Diefenbaker; undoubtedly,
there were some, but the differences were far more significant.
Christina McCall tells us a good deal about the two men by looking at
the attitudes of their wives; the proposition that a wife is often the
alter ego of her husband appears to be borne out in the portraits of the
two women given by McCall. Michael Behiels looks at Pearson’s
constitution-building, Penny Bryden at his social-security legislation,
and Greg Donaghy at the difficult relationship between Pearson and
foreign secretary Paul Martin over Canada’s attitude to the Vietnam
War and the United States’ conduct in it. Andrew Cohen of The Globe
and Mail writes with understanding of Pearson’s legacy; he sees
Pearson’s attitudes continued through the administrations of Trudeau
and Mulroney but finds them fading in the Chrétien years.

Hillmer’s collection offers an evaluation of Pearson 30 years after
his retirement from public life. It joins Pearson’s own memoirs (1972,
1973, 1975) and the superb critical biography of him by John English
(1989, 1992) in taking the measure of a warm and generous man who was
creatively farsighted in his view of the world. The collection makes a
valuable addition to the literature on Pearson.

The book contains source notes for each article that include
suggestions for further reading.