Ordering Canadian Prime Ministers (1st to 10th) Quiz

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland and came to Canada with his family as a boy of five, settling in Kingston, Ontario. He became a lawyer in the mid-1830s and worked as a criminal lawyer until he entered politics in 1843, beginning with his election as alderman of Kingston's 4th Ward. A year later he won the election to represent Kingston (Canada West, Province of Canada).

1858 saw Macdonald take over as leader of the Conservative Party in Canada West, and in served in the Parliament until Canada pursued Confederation. Macdonald led much of the process, and when the British North America Act was put into effect on July 1st, 1867, Macdonald was appointed as the first Prime Minister of the new country. His position was confirmed with the first Canadian federal election, held between August 7th and September 20th of that same year.

Sir John A. Macdonald served two terms as Prime Minister. The first lasted until 1873, and then his government was re-elected in 1878 and Macdonald served until 1891, when he died (while still in office) after a massive stroke.

Canada's second prime minister was also originally from Scotland, hailing from Logierait (near Perth). In 1842, at the age of 20, Alexander Mackenzie emigrated to Canada and settled in Kingston, Canada West. He found work in construction, and became a voice in the community for equality, the elimination of class distinction, and against governmental corruption.

In 1861, Mackenzie won a seat in the legislative assembly, and when Canada became a nation in 1867, he continued as the representative of Lambton, Ontario. He took on the role of the leader of the official opposition, despite there not having been any formal party leadership selection. Thus, when Sir John A. Macdonald's government fell in 1873 due to the Pacific Scandal, the Governor General asked Mackenzie to form the new government. He did so, and immediately called an election (1874), winning a majority government for the Liberal Party.

Mackenzie served as prime minister until the next election in 1878, when Macdonald and the Conservatives returned to power. During his tenure, Mackenzie was instrumental in establishing the Supreme Court of Canada, the Royal Military College of Canada (in Kingston), and the creation of the Office of the Auditor General.

After losing the election of 1878, Mackenzie remained the Leader of the Opposition until 1880, and continued as a member of Parliament until his death in 1892.

Sir John Abbott was Canada's first prime minister who was actually born in Canada. More precisely, he was born in Saint Andrew, Lower Canada (in 1821), which is present day Saint-André-d'Argenteuil, Quebec. Abbott studied law at McGill University in Montreal, and became a well-known lawyer there before entering politics. In 1860, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

With Confederation in 1867 and the subsequent election, Abbott was confirmed in his seat as a member of the Conservative Party. This lasted until the 1874 Pacific Scandal, which toppled Macdonald's government and resulted in Abbott losing his seat. He would not return to Parliament until 1881 in a by-election.

In 1887, Abbott was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Macdonald, a position in which he served until his death in 1893. He assumed the role of Leader of the Government in the Senate and maintained a position on Macdonald's Cabinet. When Macdonald passed away in 1891, Abbott reluctantly accepted the Conservative Party leadership and, consequently, became Canada's third prime minister (while still serving as a Senator).

Failing health forced Abbott to step down from the role of prime minister, and the mantle was passed to Sir John Thompson on November 24th, 1892, having served only one year and 161 days.

Sir John Thompson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he worked as a lawyer beginning in 1865 until his appointment as the Attorney General in 1873. He took over as premier of Nova Scotia in 1882, but lost the position after just two months with the next provincial election. Undaunted, Thompson accepted an appointment to Nova Scotia's Supreme Court, a position which he held until coaxed to join Sir John A. Macdonald's government as Minister of Justice in 1885.

After Sir John A. Macdonald died in 1891, the Governor General initially asked Sir John Thompson to take over the government, but Thompson deferred at the time, recommending Sir John Abbott, instead. Abbott was only a year and a half in office before ill health forced him to step down, and this time, Thompson accepted the appointment, becoming Canada's fourth prime minister on December 5th, 1892.

Barely two years later, while on an official visit to the United Kingdom, Thompson suffered a heart attack at Windsor Castle, passing away on December 12th, 1894. He was given a lavish state funeral by Queen Victoria.

Sir Mackenzie Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England in 1823 and emigrated to Belleville, Upper Canada with his family as a young boy in 1832. Prior to entering a life of politics, Bowell made a living in the newspaper industry, becoming the owner of the Belleville Intelligencer. He was first elected to government in the 1867 election that followed Confederation.

Bowell served as a Conservative member of Parliament, filling Cabinet positions of minister of customs, minister of militia and defence, and minister of trade and commerce during his first 25 year of service. In 1892, he was appointed to the Senate and a year later became leader of the government in the Senate.

When Prime Minister Sir John Thompson unexpectedly died of a heart attack while in England, Bowell (as the senior Cabinet minister) was appointed as Canada's fifth prime minister, effective December 21st, 1894. He held the post until April of 1896, when he was essentially forced to resign as P.M. over his handling of the 'Manitoba Schools Question'.

After his stint as prime minister, Sir Mackenzie Bowell continued in the Senate until his death from pneumonia in 1917, having served for a total of 50 years, 2 months, and 4 days.

Sir Charles Tupper was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and studied medicine both in Canada and in Scotland before setting up a practice (and opening a drugstore) in his hometown. Tupper entered into politics in 1855, winning a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. In 1864, he was appointed Premier after the Conservative Party leader retired. During his time as Premier of Nova Scotia, Tupper spearheaded the movement towards a Maritime Union of colonies, which morphed into the first steps towards Confederation. When Canada was born as a new nation in 1867, Tupper resigned as Premier and entered federal politics.

For most of the time between 1883 and 1895, Tupper served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, working diligently for Canadian interests with the Crown. When Prime Minister Bowell suffered his leadership crisis following the Manitoba Schools Question, Tupper was asked to take over leadership of the government, and he returned to Canada for that express purpose, joining Parliament through a by-election on February 4th, 1896, and expecting to take over leadership with the dissolution of Parliament later that year.

On May 1st, Tupper was appointed as Canada's sixth Prime Minister while an election campaign was mounted. The results were not strongly conclusive, with the larger percentage of votes going to Tupper's Conservatives, while Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals won 55% of the seats. Tupper attempted to hold onto power, but the Governor General asked Laurier to form the government, and Tupper decided to resign. He spent a total of 69 days as Prime Minister, then continued as the Leader of the Opposition until losing his seat in the 1900 election, retiring from Canadian politics, and moving to England.

Following Sir Charles Tupper's record-setting shortest tenure as Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier set a record for the longest UNBROKEN term of office in the job at 15 years and 86 days.

Laurier was born in Saint-Lin, Canada East, a sixth-generation French Canadian. He studied law at McGill University and worked as a lawyer in Montreal and Victoriaville and newspaper editor before officially running for (and winning) a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in 1871. In 1874 he would make the move to federal politics, joining Alexander Mackenzie's winning government.

Laurier eventually took over leadership of the Liberal Party in 1887, but would be unsuccessful in winning the 1891 federal election, losing out to yet another Sir John A. Macdonald Conservative majority. Laurier remained the Leader of the Opposition during the years of turmoil after Macdonald died, and was replaced in turn by Abbott, Thompson, Bowell and Tupper. Then, in 1896, Laurier and the Liberal Party won their first election in 22 years.

Laurier went on to win the next three elections (1900, 1904, and 1908) before ending his tenure as Prime Minister in 1911, losing to Sir Robert Borden's Conservatives. Laurier continued on as the Liberal Party leader until his death in 1919. In total, he served in the House of Commons for just under 45 years.

Sir Robert Borden was born in 1854 in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia - the last (at this time future) Prime Minister to be born before Confederation. He did not have any formal post-secondary education, but did some teaching before deciding to pursue law, serving his articles of clerkship (a type of apprenticeship) at a law firm in Halifax before being called to the Bar in 1878. He joined a firm and became senior partner by the age of 35 (in 1889).

The call to politics came in 1896 by the personal invitation of fellow Nova Scotian Sir Charles Tupper, who was about to take over as Prime Minister from Sir Mackenzie Bowell. Borden ran for the Halifax riding, winning his seat in Tupper's losing election effort against Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals. A few years later, when Tupper lost again to Laurier in the 1900 election, he resigned, and Borden was convinced to step up as Conservative Party leader.

For Borden, the third time was the charm as he lost campaigns to Laurier in 1904 and 1908 before finally winning in 1911 with a strong majority government. With the onset of the Great War in 1914, Borden (and Canada) found itself at war, as the United Kingdom still had control of Canada's foreign policy under the British North America Act (1867). Within five days, Borden passed the 'War Measures Act', which allowed for extraordinary and emergency powers.

Following the war, Borden chose to step down as Prime Minister and retire from politics (in 1920). Arthur Meighen took over the party leadership and the office of the Prime Minister on July 10th.

Arthur Meighen, born in 1874, was the first Prime Minister who was born after Confederation (which was in 1867, in case you forgot). Hailing from St. Mary's, Ontario, Meighen studied mathematics at the University of Toronto and his teaching certification from the Ontario Normal College before moving on to law. After completing his law degree in 1902, he moved to Portage la Prairie in Manitoba and established a practice.

Meighen entered politics with the 1908 election, taking the Portage la Prairie riding from the incumbent. After holding various Cabinet appointments under Sir Robert Borden, Meighen was named as the new Conservative and Unionist party leader (and Prime Minister) when Borden retired in 1920. With the next election in 1921, however, Meighen was unable to extend his time as Prime Minister, losing to William Lyon Mackenzie King and a new Liberal government.

Arthur Meighen would get another, very short stint in the top job in 1926 because of the King-Byng affair. Prime Minister King stepped down when Governor General Byng refused King's request to dissolve parliament and call an election. Consequently, Byng asked Meighen to form government, which he did. His fledgling government was not well-supported, however, and was ineffective (losing the one motion it tried to pass in the Commons after just three days). Byng was forced to call the election, and Meighen's second term as Prime Minister lasted a whole 88 days.

After his second short term in 'power', Meighen retired from politics and returned to practicing law. A few years later, however, he accepted an appointment to the Senate in 1932, where he served until he was convinced to return to Conservative Party leadership in 1941. So, he stepped down from the Senate in early 1942, and ran in a by-election to return to the House of Commons... which he was defeated. Meighen retired for a second time, this time for real.

William Lyon Mackenzie King was born in Berlin, Ontario in 1874. His family moved to Toronto in 1890, and King went on earn his Bachelor and Master of arts at the University of Toronto, as well as his law training. He went on to receive another Master in political economy (1898) AND his PhD (in 1909) from Harvard, becoming the first (eventual) Prime Minister with a PhD.

King became a Member of Parliament with the 1908 election, and was made the minister of labour in Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Cabinet. He would lose his seat in the 1911 election, and work as an industrial consultant in the interim until his return to politics. He ran again in the 1917 election, but again failed to secure a win. Despite this setback, King would take over the Liberal Party leadership in 1919, and when the next election occurred in 1921, the Liberals won, and King became Canada's tenth Prime Minister.

He would go on to serve three separate terms, for a total of 21 years and 154 days in office:

- The first lasted from 1921 to 1926, with Arthur Meighen taking over for 88 days, due to the King-Byng Affair (explained previously).
- The second lasted from 1926 to 1930, at which point King lost to the Conservative Party under R.B. Bennett. King became the Leader of the Opposition during Bennett's term (1930 to 1935).
- The third lasted from 1935 to 1948, including excellent leadership over Canada's participation in the Second World War.

William Lyon Mackenzie King retired on November 15th of 1948, and passed away less than two years later from pneumonia on July 22nd, 1950.