author
William Lyon Mackenzie King
1874–1950
A cautious, deeply influential leader, he guided Canada through depression, war, and decades of political change while becoming the country’s longest-serving prime minister. His public reserve and private eccentricity have made him one of the most studied figures in Canadian history.
1 Audiobook
The Secret of Heroism: A Memoir of Henry Albert Harper
by William Lyon Mackenzie King
About the author
Born in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) in 1874, William Lyon Mackenzie King studied at the University of Toronto, the University of Chicago, and Harvard before moving into public service and politics. He was the grandson of reformer William Lyon Mackenzie, but he built his own career carefully, first as a labour expert and civil servant, then as a Liberal politician.
King served as prime minister of Canada in three separate terms — 1921–1926, 1926–1930, and 1935–1948 — and remains the country’s longest-serving prime minister. He led during some of the most difficult years in modern history, including the Great Depression and most of the Second World War, and was known less for fiery speeches than for patience, caution, and political skill.
He has also remained fascinating for more personal reasons. Alongside his political life, King kept extensive diaries that revealed a private world far stranger and more emotional than his public image suggested. That contrast between the careful statesman and the intensely private man is a big part of why biographies of him still feel so compelling.