Lester B. Pearson

Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1958 to 1968 and as leader of the Official Opposition from 1958 to 1963.

Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of Toronto), Pearson pursued a career in the Department of External Affairs and went on to serve as the Canadian ambassador to the United States from 1944 to 1946. He entered politics in 1948 as Secretary of State for External Affairs, serving in that position until 1957 in the governments of William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent. Pearson was also the seventh president of the United Nations General Assembly from 1952 to 1953. He was a candidate to become secretary-general of the United Nations in 1953, but was vetoed by the Soviet Union. In 1957, Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for proposing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Crisis, for which he received worldwide attention. After the Liberal Party was defeated in the 1957 federal election, Pearson won the leadership of the party the following year. He suffered two consecutive defeats by prime minister John Diefenbaker of the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1958 and 1962 elections. He challenged Diefenbaker for a third time in the 1963 federal election, and won a minority government. In the 1965 federal election, Pearson led the Liberals to a second minority government, again defeating Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives.

During Pearson's tenure as prime minister, he introduced progressive policies including the Canada Student Loan Program, the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Assistance Plan, the Canada Labour Code, and universal health care. He established royal commissions on bilingualism and biculturalism and the status of women, oversaw the creation of the Maple Leaf flag after the Great Canadian flag debate, and unified the Canadian Armed Forces. In 1967, Pearson presided over the Canadian Centennial celebrations. In foreign policy, Pearson's government signed the Auto Pact with the United States and kept Canada out of the Vietnam War. Under his leadership, Canada became the first country in the world to implement a points-based immigration system. After five years in power, Pearson resigned as prime minister and retired from politics.

With his government programs and policies, together with his groundbreaking work at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, which included his role in ending the Suez Crisis, Pearson is considered to be among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century. He is ranked as one of Canada's greatest prime ministers.