Last December, shortly after Christmas, I made a trip to the local Indigo Books store in my area to pick out a few books to buy with a few gift cards I had gotten for Christmas. After a couple hours looking about I ended up leaving the book store with three books, The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, and Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Volume One: 1919-1968 by an author by the name of John English, a book which I had been eying since a few months beforehand. I've only now just finished reading the three books I picked up that night, and I've got to say, I definitely enjoyed Citizen of the World the most out of the three.
For those who are reading this who may not know anything of him, Pierre Elliott Trudeau is often considered by many Canadians as one of the greatest Prime Minsters in modern Canadian history, though, depending on where it is your from within Canada, he was also despised by many Canadians, as well, for many different reasons, all of which would take much too long to explain. In 1982, as Prime Minister of Canada, Trudeau repatriated our country's Constitution from the United Kingdom where the power to amend it rested solely in the hands of the British Parliament. He also made sure that our newly repatriated Constitution protected the rights of all Canadians by adding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to it. It is for this reason above all others I have for many years now had the greatest respect for our late Prime Minister; he was a bold and strong enough a leader to do that which a great deal of modern governments often seem loath to do, he gave his fellow citizens rights rather than constantly looking for ways around or restricting them.Citizen of the World is the first volume of a planned two volume biography that focuses on Trudeau's life prior to becoming leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. It was brilliantly written, I really enjoyed reading it. If I had thought he was an interesting man before reading this book it was nothing compared to how interesting I've discovered he truly was. While reading the book, to my utter surprise, I found that in his youth Trudeau seemed to, in fact, be a strong Québec nationalist and, for a time, was a borderline separatist. But during his life, which is often the case with those who keep a truly open mind and seek continuously to educate themselves, his views and opinions were constantly evolving to the point that many of them were completely opposite of the opinions he had held as young man.
Trudeau fancied himself a citizen of the world. He spent over a year in his youth backpacking around the world; a journey that took him from Europe to the Middle-East to Asia and through more than one war zone in the process; he had actually even been shot at on three separate occasions. Later in life he made trips to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba during some of the most turbulent times of the Cold War, during the days of McCarthyism when making trips to Communist countries was often very dangerous as political idealists sought to prosecute anybody and everybody suspected or proven to be Communists. He didn't seem to perceive the world through the scope of "us and them"; he sought to understand those around the world and didn't begrudge them for holding different ideals and political philosophies. Love him or hate him, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a fascinating man. If only we could all fall under the category of Citizen of the World.
For those who are reading this who may not know anything of him, Pierre Elliott Trudeau is often considered by many Canadians as one of the greatest Prime Minsters in modern Canadian history, though, depending on where it is your from within Canada, he was also despised by many Canadians, as well, for many different reasons, all of which would take much too long to explain. In 1982, as Prime Minister of Canada, Trudeau repatriated our country's Constitution from the United Kingdom where the power to amend it rested solely in the hands of the British Parliament. He also made sure that our newly repatriated Constitution protected the rights of all Canadians by adding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to it. It is for this reason above all others I have for many years now had the greatest respect for our late Prime Minister; he was a bold and strong enough a leader to do that which a great deal of modern governments often seem loath to do, he gave his fellow citizens rights rather than constantly looking for ways around or restricting them.Citizen of the World is the first volume of a planned two volume biography that focuses on Trudeau's life prior to becoming leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. It was brilliantly written, I really enjoyed reading it. If I had thought he was an interesting man before reading this book it was nothing compared to how interesting I've discovered he truly was. While reading the book, to my utter surprise, I found that in his youth Trudeau seemed to, in fact, be a strong Québec nationalist and, for a time, was a borderline separatist. But during his life, which is often the case with those who keep a truly open mind and seek continuously to educate themselves, his views and opinions were constantly evolving to the point that many of them were completely opposite of the opinions he had held as young man.
Trudeau fancied himself a citizen of the world. He spent over a year in his youth backpacking around the world; a journey that took him from Europe to the Middle-East to Asia and through more than one war zone in the process; he had actually even been shot at on three separate occasions. Later in life he made trips to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba during some of the most turbulent times of the Cold War, during the days of McCarthyism when making trips to Communist countries was often very dangerous as political idealists sought to prosecute anybody and everybody suspected or proven to be Communists. He didn't seem to perceive the world through the scope of "us and them"; he sought to understand those around the world and didn't begrudge them for holding different ideals and political philosophies. Love him or hate him, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a fascinating man. If only we could all fall under the category of Citizen of the World.
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