From the Publisher
Pierre Trudeau was prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and
from 1980 to 1984. This is his story, told in his own words.
Take a look through the book. When you do, you will find that this
remarkable memoir has many qualities. It is:
PERSONAL
As if he were sitting across the table from you, Pierre Trudeau
reminisces about his life in an informal, direct way. He starts
with his memories of his family, especially his mother and father,
to whom the book is dedicated. There are memorable events from
childhood here, such as a visit to complain to the principal on his
second day at school. Later there is a lunchroom encounter with a
high school bully and then, at the age of fifteen, real
tragedy.
"Aroused by the ringing of the telephone, I came out of my room to
go downstairs and find out what was happening. But I froze on the
landing when I heard the awful words: 'Your father is dead,
Pierre.'"
PHILOSOPHICAL
After an extensive education in Montreal, Boston, London, and
Paris, Trudeau set off with a backpack to travel around the world.
He tells how he went through one war zone after another,
encountering armed bandits and being arrested in wartime Jordan as
a Jewish spy. These adventures and further travels through India
and war-torn China left with him a deep belief in the rights of the
individual and the vital role of government in protecting these
rights. He tells how his hatred of narrow nationalism reinforced
his stand against requests for special treatment by successive
Quebec governments.
POLITICAL
From the day he decided to go to Ottawa as a Liberal MP in 1965,
Trudeau was clearly on a fast track. After becoming minister of
justice in 1967 and tackling very controversial law reforms, he ran
for the leadership and became prime minister in 1968 - the first
Canadian leader born in the twentieth century. He talks about his
use of "the Liberal machine" and all the electoral fights that
followed over the year, providing interesting insights into his
contests with national opponents such as Robert Stanfield, David
Lewis, Joe Clark (a tougher opponent than the man who deposed him),
Ed Broadbent, and Brian Mulroney, about whose virtues he is
eloquently silent.
PERSONALITY-FILLED
As a leader whose time in office ran from the fall of Charles de
Gaulle to the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, Pierre Trudeau was able to
exert his influence to break down the Cold War mentality. He
enjoyed good personal rapport with such different leaders as Chou
Enlai, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Helmut Schmidt, and François
Mitterand. His relations with Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher
were less warm, and he was less impressed by Ronald Reagan's
intellect than by the wisdom of the Queen.
PATRIOTIC
Whether they loved him or hated him, Canadians knew that in Pierre
Trudeau's time, the government stood up for Canada. He stood up to
the domestic terrorism of the FLQ - and he makes no apologies here
for his tough response to the October Crisis in 1970 - just as he
stood up to the provincial premiers (including Réné Lévesque) who
he believed were blocking the patriation of Canada's constitution
ten years later.
PERTINENT
The author's preface ends with a word to you, the reader. "Whether
you were a Liberal Cabinet colleague, a Canadian voter whose
support we sought, or a young Canadian whose future we tried to
improve, you are a part of this book."
About the Author
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a politician, writer,
constitutional lawyer, and prime minister of Canada (1968-79,
1980-84). It was his forthright approach and candid opposition to
the dominant ideology and what passed for conventional wisdom that
won him strong support as well as criticism. During his years in
Ottawa, as justice minister and prime minister, he introduced
controversial measures ranging from wage-and-price controls and
restrictions on foreign investment, to expanded rights for
homosexuals. Some of his major accomplishments include the 1980
defeat of Québec separatism, official bilingualism, the patriated
Constitution, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is also
known for his opposition to the much-publicized Meech Lake and
Charlottetown accords. Trudeau was awarded the Albert Einstein
Peace Prize for his efforts in 1983-1984 to reduce nuclear weapons
and lower the level of Cold War tensions.
Trudeau published a number of books with McClelland & Stewart
including: Memoirs (1993), The Canadian Way: Shaping
Canada's Foreign Policy (with Ivan Head, 1995), Against
the Current: Selected Writings (edited by Gérard Pelletier,
1996), and The Essential Trudeau (edited by Ron Graham,
1998).
When Pierre Elliot Trudeau died in 2000, a nation mourned the loss
of one of our greatest prime ministers and most celebrated
patriots.