bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, p. 46
ROGUE TORY: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF
JOHN G. DIEFENBAKER by Denis Smith.
Macfarlane Walter & Ross, Toronto. 1995.
$39.95.
John Diefenbaker was briefly a legend in his own time and, as Denis Smith tells us in this fine biography, for much longer in his own mind. The legend was that of the humble outsider who rose, on the basis of his own merits and against heavy odds, to the highest office in the land, there to wrestle with a vaguely defined, self-interested establishment on behalf of the vast majority of Canadians who were people like himself. Brought down by that establishment and its international supporters, he remained in public life to the end of his days as the champion of ordinary Canadians. This legend, vigorously promoted by Diefenbaker in his memoirs and in numerous other ways, has been subject to challenge for a long time, and Smith continues the process.
While the future prime minister, born in 1895, did indeed come from a modest background, there was a certain amount of good fortune along the way, some of it produced by an ambitious mother who ensured that growing up in rural Saskatchewan in pioneering days would not prevent him from getting a good education. Thus he qualified for the bar, which provided the financial resources and the local fame that staked his early political career.
That career took a long time to get off the ground, for Diefenbaker did not secure elective office until 1940, when he entered the House of Commons as a Conservative. His political philosophy meanwhile had been taking shape. Essential elements from the first were loyalty to the British connection, admiration for the institution of Parliament, concern for the interests of Western Canada, and (apart from a brief lapse as a candidate in the Saskatchewan election of 1929), commitment to equal treatment for Canadians of all ethnic backgrounds. In 1935, he discovered the attractions of populism from the example Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, to whom he wrote an admiring letter. At the same time, he supported R.B. Bennett in his emulation of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and in 1942, contending unsuccessfully for his party’s leadership, he presented himself as an advocate of every citizen’s right to employment and to the protection of the state in times of misfortune. After the Second World War, he established his credentials as a civil libertarian in parliamentary debate over the government’s handling of the Gouzenko affair. Surprisingly for one who as prime minister was to get into major trouble over deficit financing, Diefenbaker in opposition was “a fiscal conservative unaffected by any scent of Keynesian economics,” advocating tax cuts and reduced government outlays (pp. 164-65).
Smith notes that Diefenbaker during his early years in parliament was most definitely not a team player, and blames his unpredictability rather than any dark conspiracy for his difficulty in persuading the Conservative establishment that he was leadership material. Once he achieved the leadership in 1956, however, Diefenbaker proved to be a brilliant campaigner on the national scale, and Smith gives much of the credit for the Conservatives’ successes in the elections of 1957 and 1958 to his rapport with the average voter. Also at this time, Diefenbaker rounded out his political philosophy with a vision of northern development as a successor to the National Policy of Sir John A. Macdonald
In Smith’s account, Diefenbaker’s campaign skills were not much help when it came to governing and his political philosophy was too shallow to provide a blueprint for policy. As well, he was undermined by weaknesses of which his critics were already aware, notably indecisiveness and lack of managerial skills. The result in Smith’s view was a record that was generally undistinguished and at times disastrous, as in his troubles over deficit financing. Many of his problems involved Canada’s foreign relations, to which Smith gives substantial attention. Readers of Basil Robinson’s Diefenbaker’s World, which is one of Smith’s main sources here, may not find too much that is new, and that book remains an indispensable rendering of these events. It is good, however, to have them placed within the context of Diefenbaker’s entire career.
Diefenbaker’s distrust of public servants is well known, but growing familiarity made him more at ease with them. Smith’s description of Robinson, on loan from the Department of External Affairs to the prime minister’s office from 1957 to 1962, as a “normally skeptical” observer (p. 383) may seem odd to readers who find Diefenbaker’s World more sympathetic to its subject than Rogue Tory. Robinson’s perspective was that of a staff member responsible for enabling his chief to perform as effectively as possible, not always certain that he would take the advice that would be of most help to him, and relieved when things went well. His tone, particularly when recounting moments of difficulty that turned out all right in the end, might be explained by paraphrasing Maryon Pearson, to the effect that behind every successful politician there stands an occasionally very surprised public servant.
Another official of great importance to Diefenbaker was the clerk of the privy council, Robert Bryce. Smith cites a number of memoranda that suggest that Bryce advanced his own views much more forthrightly than previous holders of the office had done. It would be very interesting to know, by comparison with practice in the St. Laurent and Pearson governments, whether this was part of a longer-term trend. There are also some subjects, such as Diefenbaker’s rivalry with Lester Pearson, on which Smith offers tantalizing insights that one might wish had been pushed deeper. I would gladly have sacrificed some long quotations from readily available published sources to make room for these matters.
These are minor criticisms, for Rogue Tory adds a great deal to our knowledge of Diefenbaker’s life and his years in office. It is particularly good on the circumstances of the government’s fall in 1963, making use for the first time of the prime minister’s own memoranda on the events. In dealing with the years following his loss of the party leadership in 1967, it shows his career coming full circle, as he reverted to the role of unpredictable loner in parliament that he had occupied before 1956. In death, the one indestructible part of his legend, his appeal to the common people, was made manifest once again, as they paid tribute as the train passed bearing his remains from Ottawa to Saskatoon for burial.
Rogue Tory will be essential reading for anyone wishing to know about Diefenbaker, and a logical starting place for those new to the literature. It is not, however, the last word. Like most studies of Diefenbaker’s career, it focuses on character more than on circumstance. It should not be overlooked, however, that the period itself, in marked contrast to the first post-war decade, was one of instability. Signs of this were in evidence before Diefenbaker took office, and they continued after his defeat: in the five elections between 1957 and 1968, only two produced majority governments. Such times may have been exceptionally difficult for someone of Diefenbaker’s temperament, but an explanation of what happened must be sought in those times as well as in the man himself. Looked at in this way, it might be said that his failures were predictable, and his successes were achieved against the odds.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, p. 46. Read the rest of this issue →
