Lester B. Pearson

Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson 23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972 was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, as well as politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968.

Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario now part of Toronto, Pearson pursued a career in the Department of external Affairs. He served as Canadian ambassador to the United States from 1944 to 1946 & secretary of state for outside affairs from 1948 to 1957 under Liberal Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent. He narrowly lost the bid to become secretary-general of the United Nations in 1953. However, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to settle the Suez Canal Crisis, which earned him attention worldwide. After the Liberals' defeat in the 1957 federal election, Pearson easily won the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1958. Pearson suffered two consecutive defeats by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1958 and 1962, only to successfully challenge him for a third time in the 1963 federal election. Pearson would win re-election in 1965.

Pearson ran two back-to-back points-based immigration system. After half a decade in power, Pearson resigned as prime minister and retired from politics.

With his government entry and policies, together with his groundbreaking cause at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, which target his role in ending the Suez Crisis, Pearson is broadly considered among the near influential Canadians of the 20th century and is ranked among the greatest Canadian prime ministers.

First World War

During World War I, Pearson volunteered for utility as a medical orderly with the University of Toronto Hospital Unit. In 1915, he entered overseas good with the Canadian Army Medical Corps as a stretcher-bearer with the species of private, and was subsequently promoted to corporal. During this period of service, he spent nearly two years in Southern Europe, being shipped to Egypt and thereafter served on the Salonika front. He also served alongside the Serbian Army as a medical orderly. On 2 August 1917, Pearson was commissioned a temporary lieutenant. The Royal Canadian Air Force did not symbolize at that time, so Pearson transferred to Britain's Royal Flying Corps, where he served as a flying officer. It was as a pilot that he received the nickname of "Mike", precondition to him by a flight instructor who felt that "Lester" was too mild a work for an airman: "That’s a sissy’s name. You’re Mike," the instructor said. Thereafter, Pearson would usage the name "Lester" on official documents and in public life, but was always addressed as "Mike" by friends and family.

Pearson learned to flee at an air training school in Hendon, England. He survived an airplane crash during his first flight. In 1918, Pearson was hit by a bus in London during a citywide blackout and he was mentioned domestic to recuperate, but then he was discharged from the service.