The Presidents and the Prime Ministers: Washington and Ottawa Face to Face: The Myth of Bilateral Bliss, 1867-1982

by Lawrence Martin

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385179812
• ISBN13: 9780385179812
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Doubleday Canada
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Behind The Scenes Look At A Relationship

In "The Presidents And The Prime Ministers" Lawrence Martin gives us a behind the scenes look into the often tumultuous relationships between American presidents and Canadian prime ministers from 1867-1982. The constant reports of harmonious relationships notwithstanding, there have been many ups and downs behind the scenes. Beginning with a Camp David meeting in which President Johnson, driven by resentment of Prime Minister Pearson Philadelphia speech critical of Johnson's Vietnam policy, grabbed Pearson by the collar and shoved him into the wall, we are admitted to scenes which are revealing, shocking and/or just amusing.Although the book focuses on individuals, the reader obtains an understanding of the bilateral issues affecting U.S.-Canada relations over time. The relationship would generally be torn between a U. S., too occupied to be concerned with Canadian issues, and a Canada pulled between the U. S. economic magnet and the British cultural pole. This book is often organized from the perspective of the President rather than from that of the Prime Minster.Beginning with Sir John A. McDonald, Canadian Prime Ministers confronted a series of U. S. Presidents looking on Canada as an annexation target. From Grant to Theodore Roosevelt, annexation remained close to the surface as a bilateral issue. Although Canadian fears persisted through the administration of William Howard Taft, the focus of the relationship shifted to trade issues which threatened Canada's sovereignty, rather than overt annexation.Although throughout the relationship it has generally been Canada coming to the U. S. more than the other way, there were occasions in which Presidents, with mixed results, sought to use negotiations with Canada to embellish their records. One big loser was President Taft, probably the first president to really have an interest in Canada, when, after years of Canadian free trade pleas, the Canadian electorate turned to Prime Minister Laurier who rejected Taft's free trade overtures.One fact of Canadian history which played itself out was the ambiguity of Canadian authority to conduct international relations. The initial arrangement in which Canadian foreign affairs were conducted by Britain only gradually changed, sometimes on a trial and error basis. The uncertainty over who had authority to commit Canada plagued negotiations during the first half century or so of the relationship.Fifty-six years after Confederation, Warren Harding became the first U. S. president to visit Canada with a stop in Vancouver on his return from Alaska in 1923. The euphoria of his reception was dissipated by his death a week later.According to Martin, the high point of the Presidental-Prime Ministerial relationship occurred during the FDR- Mackenzie King years. Sharing the experience of having defeated Depression battered incumbents, they provided each other mutual support while leading their countries out of depression and through World War. Roosevelt, th