How long was r.b. bennett prime minister

Although Bennett began his term of office believing that self-denial, individual responsibility, free enterprise and new trade agreements would lift Canada out of the Great Depression, he left believing that capitalism had failed and government needed a new economic role. Did his beliefs change as a result of the many Canadians who wrote to tell him that, despite their good behaviour, they still needed basic necessities such as winter clothing and medical care and that the existing municipal relief programs were still inadequate?

Influenced by the success of U. Conservative senator James A. Lougheed offered him a position in his Calgary law firm. Bennett negotiated a partnership deal, creating the firm Lougheed Bennett. In January , Bennett moved west. Bennett excelled at corporate law. He and his childhood friend Max Aitkin later Lord Beaverbrook also worked together in a number of successful ventures, including stock purchases, land speculation and the buying and merging of small companies. Bennett became president of a host of companies and served on the boards of many others.

Before he was 40, Bennett was a multi-millionaire. He lived at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. He neither smoked nor drank alcohol. He dated a number of women but never married. He also began a lifelong dedication to philanthropy , giving generously to schools, hospitals , charities and individuals in need. Bennett graduated from law school in and was elected to serve on the Chatham municipal council in He rekindled his political ambitions in Calgary when, in , he won election to the Assembly of the North-West Territories.

His ability to speak quickly, extemporaneously and persuasively earned him the nickname Bonfire Bennett. Alberta became a province in and Bennett became its first Conservative Party leader. He nonetheless made a name for himself as a hard worker and persuasive speaker. Among other things, he led an effort that uncovered corruption in the Canadian Northern Railway. However, Bennett was dissatisfied with his role as a backbencher and did not run for re-election in But Bennett failed to win a seat in the subsequent election by only 16 votes.

In , he became the federal member for Calgary West. In , he served as minister of finance ; acting minister of the interior; acting minister of mines ; and acting superintendent general of Indian affairs.

Bennett worked hard to unify the party, expand its base and shore up its finances. The election saw Canadians voting while in the early months of the economically and socially devastating Great Depression. Liberal prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King said he would let markets fix the worsening catastrophe.

In July , the Conservatives won a commanding majority and Bennett became prime minister. It was later augmented by the Unemployment and Farm Relief Act, , which provided for more infrastructure construction and direct relief for farmers and the unemployed.

Western farmers had been devastated by a collapse in prices, a drought , and a grasshopper plague. In , the Bennett government created the Canadian Wheat Board , which stabilized prices and helped farmers sell their wheat abroad.

After losing re-election in , Bennett retired to Britain and was named a viscount in Bennett died in , a week before his 77th birthday; he remains the only prime minister not buried in Canada. Dalhousie University. About Dalhousie University. And in my mind, reform means government intervention.

It means government control and regulation. It means the end of laissez-faire. Bennetts new deal promised more progressive taxation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, closer regulation of working conditions and social reforms. But time had run out for Bennett. By now his party was too closely associated with the hardships of the Depression and Bennett did not have popularity like Roosevelts to sell the plan. An election was called for October His opponent, Mackenzie King offered the choice of "King or Chaos.

Although he was out of office, Bennett's new deal legislation was challenged at the Supreme Court. The Court found the most important parts unconstitutional. Bennett remained opposition leader until Bitter and disillusioned by his election defeat and conflicts within his Conservative Party, R.

Bennett abandoned Canada and immigrated to England. He died there in Dear Mr.