Bennett: The Rebel Who Challenged and Changed a Nation
By John Boyko
5/5
()
About this ebook
In the late 1920s, Canada's economy was showing all the signs of a full-fledged depression. Life savings were evaporating, unemployment was up, and exports were dramatically down. Riding on the popularity of his promise to "blast" Canada's way into world markets — and thus stop the economy's downward spiral — Richard Bedford Bennett defeated William Lyon Mackenzie King at the polls on July 28, 1930, and assumed the leadership of the country. Over the next five years, however, Bennett's name became synonymous with the worst of the Depression — from Bennett buggies, to Bennett tea, to Bennett-burghs.
Eighty years later, he is widely viewed as a difficult man, an ineffectual leader, and a politician who "flip-flopped" on his conservative beliefs in exchange for popularity. John Boyko offers not only the first major biography of the man, but a fresh perspective on the old scholarship. Boyko looks at the Prime Minister's sometimes controversial and often misunderstood policies through a longer lens, one that shows not a politician angling for votes, but rather a man following through on a life-long dedication to a greater role for government in society and the economy. It is easy to understand why Bennett has been so misunderstood. It is not often, after all, that a Conservative Prime Minister finds himself to the left of his Liberal opposition, but that it exactly where Bennett landed. Bennett's New Deal — a series of proposals that included unemployment insurance; the establishment of a minimum wage and limits on work hours; an extension of federally backed farm credit; fair-trade and anti-monopoly legislation; and a revamped Wheat Board to oversee and control grain prices — was certainly a departure from the Conservative politics of the day. The same could be said for his creation of the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission.
Boyko explores the origins and hardening of those beliefs as he details Bennett's birth (into relative poverty) in Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, his stunning success as a corporate lawyer and financial entrepreneur in Calgary, his years in politics, and his eventual retirement in England. As he ranges through the ups and downs of his subject's career, Boyko also invites his reader to compare the challenges faced by Bennett to those faced in Canada's more recent history. Nearly every other Canadian prime minister finds his or her way into the analysis, with Bennett's beliefs and actions measured against theirs.
John Boyko
John Boyko has earned degrees from McMaster, Queen’s, and Trent universities. Bennett is his fourth book addressing Canadian history and politics. Reviews of this biography of Bennett, praise him for his "encyclopaedic knowledge of Canadian history," his "engaging style," and his ability to "make the most arid political debate interesting." He has written a bi-weekly newspaper column and a number of op-ed articles, has spoken throughout the country, and appeared on regional and national radio and television programs. He has been elected to municipal council and served on a number of boards. John Boyko is also an educator. He is the director of Entrepreneurial Programs and Northcote Campus at Lakefield College School. He lives in Lakefield, Ontario.
Read more from John Boyko
Into the Hurricane: Attacking Socialism and the CCF Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Bennett
Related ebooks
John Buchan: Model Governor General Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott, Founder of the Chicago Defender Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistoric Tales of Bethel, Connecticut Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Makers of Canada: George Brown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilliam F. Buckley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stops Along the Way: A Catholic Soul, a Conservative Heart, an Irish Temper, and a Love of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsErnest Bevin: Labour's Churchill Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5George Brown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings“Beast” Butler: The Incredible Career of Major-General Benjamin Franklin Butler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfter the Rebellion: The later years of William Lyon Mackenzie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoston’S Banner Years: 1965–2015: A Saga of Black Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTony Benn: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Young Menzies: Success, Failure, Resilience 1894–1942 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Power of the Pen: The Politics, Nationalism, and Influence of Sir John Willison Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoston 1945 - 2015: The Decline and Rebirth of a Great World City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Bond: The Greatest Newfoundlander Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Deal / New South: An Anthony J. Badger Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy: Brothers in Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diplomat, Dissident, Spook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobert Bond: A Political Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomebrew Churches: Re-conceiving the Church for Tomorrow’s Children Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Peacemaker: Nixon: The Man, President, and My Friend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoston in the American Revolution: A Town versus an Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerley's Reminiscences, v. 1-2 of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Kind of Historian: The Work and Activism of Lerone Bennett Jr. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Nervous Man Shouldn't Be Here in the First Place: The Life of Bill Baggs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerica: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inheritance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A World Without Jews Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nelson Mandela Biography: The Long Walk to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History Will Absolve Me: Fidel Castro Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChe Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate: A New History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Assassination Vacation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Days in November Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Bennett
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Bennett - John Boyko
|FNOI abmYӡC'2$>VII'I.3-u-l0_;7ZNowrs >b)I\bXu5e/27_^pj[1w0܅'",uOۂȃpqQDZ"v,씼(K!^3d(t]Iiop;⤜JrlY7˶Ԣ0FQ)AVX9P=*, iK&"[,}{/(ކN[=|U\]cq;l3f;Ŧ68rTxetL3NTOr=+_qf`ўa{ٻ"C/xQ\Pܼd_a:DeDm}?rwXrܘb8(rT}