King Ralph: The Political Life and Success of Ralph Klein

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Don Martin, a columnist for the Calgary Herald for nearly 25 years,
secured the cooperation of Alberta premier Ralph Klein and his intimates
for this mostly tell-all book. These essential sources were supplemented
by Martin’s own recollections and a variety of material in the public
domain.

The book focuses on Klein’s two careers—TV reporter and politician.
His political career began in 1980 when, in an unlikely victory, he was
elected Mayor of Calgary. In 1989, he entered Don Getty’s cabinet as
Minister of the Environment. Two years later, he took on the job of
premier. Martin gives due attention to Klein’s brushes with the law,
the Klein Revolution (and the massive government cutbacks that were its
signature), and the later, mellower Klein who at one point made Alberta
nurses the highest paid in the country.

How to explain the ongoing political success of this former TV reporter
with a drinking problem (in December 2001, after appearing drunk in a
homeless shelter, Klein forswore alcohol) and only a high-school
education? Klein owes his success in part, says Martin, to the fact that
he comes across as an average guy who is trusted by the electorate to do
the right thing. Moreover, he is a gifted communicator who also listens.
As a good case study of a successful politician, King Ralph should
endure long after its subject has left the political scene.