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DIEFENBAKER, JOHN
Further Reading Hellman, Judith A. Mexico in Crisis. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1983. Hofstader, Dan. Mexico, 1946–73. New York: Facts On File, 1974. Niemeyer, E. Victor. “Personal Diplomacy: Lyndon B. Johnson and Mexico, 1963–1968.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 90 (October 1986): 159–186. Preston, Julia. Opening Mexico: A Country’s Tumultuous Passage to Democracy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Sloan, Julia L. “The 1968 Student Movement and the Crisis of Mexico’s Institutionalized Revolution.” Unpublished Ph.D. diss., University of Houston, 2001. Wager, Steven J. “The Mexican Army, 1940–1982: The Country Comes First.” Unpublished Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1992.
Diefenbaker, John (1895–1979) prime minister of Canada John George Diefenbaker was born in Neustadt, Ontario, on September 18, 1895, the son of a schoolmaster. He relocated to Saskatchewan as a child and was imbued with the sense of “prairie populism” characterizing that region. After completing military service in World War I, Diefenbaker earned his law degree from the University of Saskatchewan and began a successful legal practice. He gained renown as a powerful and eloquent defense attorney, and as his interest in politics matured, he joined the Progressive Conservative Party. Commencing in 1928, Diefenbaker ran five unsuccessful campaigns for public office, even though he was elected head of the provincial party in 1938. It was not until 1940 that Diefenbaker finally won a seat in Parliament, where he again demonstrated formidable debating and oratorical skills. But it was not until 1956 that Diefenbaker became head of the Progressive Conservatives and the following year he scored an upset victory over Liberals under LOUIS ST. LAURENT. It was the first conservative administration in 22 years, though it governed as a minority coalition. A flurry of important social bills were enacted by Diefenbaker, who then dissolved Parliament and called for new elections. To everybody’s surprise, the conservatives scored resoundingly, taking 208 of 265 seats—the most ever accorded a single party to that date.
With a firm working majority in his favor Diefenbaker set about enacting an ambitious legislative agenda, reflecting his unique blend of nationalism and populism. He pushed through the Canadian Bill of Rights, which for the first time extended a voting franchise to all native peoples. He also appointed the first female cabinet member in Canadian history. The government then promoted a “northern vision,” which entailed economic development of Canada’s farthest reaches. In international circles Diefenbaker was determined to have Canada’s voice heard, especially within the British Commonwealth. In 1961 he so lambasted South Africa for its apartheid racial policies that the government in Pretoria withdrew its membership. Diefenbaker also angered British prime minister HAROLD MACMILLAN by criticizing his decision to enter the European Common Market. Finally, he flouted political convention by selling Canadian wheat to the People’s Republic of China at a time when the United States refused China diplomatic recognition. During his five years in power Diefenbaker did much to enhance social and political affairs at home while projecting a distinct Canadian perspective on affairs abroad. By 1962 the national economy had soured, so the Liberals made parliamentary gains that relegated the conservatives to a minority government and weakened Diefenbaker’s ability to rule. That year he also entered into a bitter contretemps with American president JOHN F. KENNEDY over the issue of nuclear weapons. Previously, Canada had agreed in principle to the stationing of U.S. nuclear-tipped Bomarc missiles on Canadian soil with the caveat that the United States alone could authorize its warheads to be mounted. But during the 1961 Cuban missile crisis with the Soviet Union, when Kennedy ordered a mass mobilization of nuclear weapons, Diefenbaker refused to comply. The Liberals were quick to use this recalcitrance as proof of the prime minister’s indecision and anti-Americanism. He had also acquired a reputation for being soft on national security measures by canceling the highly expensive Avro Arrow jet fighter in 1959 at the cost of 15,000 jobs. When elections were held in 1963, the Progressive Conservatives were badly defeated by Liberals under LESTER PEARSON, who became prime minister. Back in the opposition Diefenbaker retained his role as head of the Progressive Conservatives though he was increasingly viewed as an electoral liability. He weathered several attempts to depose him but finally lost