Lester B Pearson Essay

Lester B Pearson was a Canadian scholar who was a very active, informed and purposeful man in the Canadian society. He was a diplomat, who later went on to serve as the Prime Minister and was very sucessful in office. Pearson was also nominated and sucessfully won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to assist in the ressolving of the Suez Canal Crisis.

Lester B. Pearson was a politician, diplomat, and a Prime Minister from 1963-1968. He was as prominent as a mediator in international disputes. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1957.Pearson served in World War I (1914–18) and lectured in history at the University of Toronto (1924–28), after studying there and at the University of Oxford.

He joined the Canadian foreign service in 1928 and became first secretary in the Department of External Affairs. He served on two royal commissions (1931) and as counselor of the Canadian high commissioner’s office in London (1935).Pearson succeeded Saint Laurent as leader of the Liberal Party in 1958 and became prime minister in 1963. His government introduced a national pension plan and a family assistance program, broadened old-age security benefits, and laid the groundwork for the National Free Medical Service. Under Pearson, the government also introduced Canada’s first national flag and adopted an official national anthem. Pearson resigned as prime minister in 1968 and retired from politics.

In 1935 he was sent to London as first secretary in the Canadian High Commission, giving him a front-row seat as Europe drifted towards the Second World War.

He was profoundly influenced by what he saw and thereafter attached great importance to collective defence in the face of dictatorships and aggression. In 1941 Pearson returned to Canada. He was sent to Washington as second-in-command at the Canadian Legation in 1942, where his easygoing personality and personal charm made him a great success, particularly with the press. In 1945, he was named Canadian ambassador to the United States and attended the founding conference of the United Nations (UN) at San Francisco.By the time NATO was in place, Pearson had left the civil service for politics. In September 1948, he became minister of external affairs and subsequently represented Algoma East, Ontario, in the House of Commons. As minister, he helped lead Canada into the Korean War as a contributor to the UN army and, in 1952, served as president of the UN General Assembly, where he tried to find a solution to the conflict. His efforts displeased the Americans, who considered him too inclined to compromise on difficult points of principle. His greatest diplomatic achievement came in 1956, when he proposed a UN peacekeeping force as means for easing the British and French out of Egypt during the Suez Crisis. His plan was implemented, and as a reward he received the Nobel Peace Prize in

1957.

Pearson took office on 22 April 1963.

His government was expected to be more businesslike than past Prime Ministers, such as Diefenbaker. Much of Parliament's time was spent in the dispute about the Danadian flag in 1964. In 1965, Pearson called a general election but again failed to secure a majority. In the next year, the Munsinger scandal erupted with even more partisan bitterness.For all its superficial chaos, the Pearson government left behind a notable legacy of legislation: a Canada Pension Plan, a universal medicare system, a unified armed force, and a new flag. However, its approach to the problem of Canada's economically disadvantaged regions was less successful and its legacy, which included the Glace Bay heavy-water plant, was decidedly mixed. Not all of these initiatives proved fruitful and some were costly, but they represented the high point of the Canadian welfare state that generations of social thinkers had dreamed about. In retirement, Pearson worked on his memoirs and on a study of international aid for the World

Bank.

Toronto Pearson International Airport, also known as the YYZ or Pearson, was officially named Lester B. Pearson International Airport. It is an international airport that serves the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Greater Toronto Area, and the Golden Horseshoe. The airport is named in honour of Toronto-born Lester B. Pearson, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and 14th Prime Minister of Canada.

Lester B Pearson was a Canadian scholar who was a very active, informed and purposeful man in the Canadian society. He will always be remembered in the Canadian Government as a man who made many great changes not only to society, but to the Government itself.