Pearson, Lester B

Pearson, Lester B(owles)

(born April 23, 1897, Toronto, Ont., Can.—died Dec. 27, 1972, Ottawa, Ont.) Prime minister of Canada (1963–68). He taught at the University of Toronto from 1924 until 1928, when he joined the Canadian foreign service. He was posted to Britain from 1935 to 1941 and to the U.S. from 1942 to 1945; he was ambassador to the U.S. from 1945 to 1946. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1948 to 1968 and as minister of external affairs from 1948 to 1956. During the latter period he also led the Canadian delegation to the UN; he was president of the UN General Assembly from 1952 to 1953. In 1957 he received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in resolving the Suez Crisis. He became head of the Liberal Party in 1958 and led it to victory in elections in 1963. His government introduced a national pension plan and a family assistance program, broadened old-age security benefits, and laid the groundwork for the National Free Medical Service. In 1967 he rebuked visiting French Pres. Charles de Gaulle for his support of separatism in Quebec. He retired in 1968.