Why is lester b pearson important

He taught history at the University of Toronto before entering the foreign service with the Department of External Affairs. Making his way to Washington, D. He became ambassador to the United States in and led Canada in discussions for the founding of the UN. As the world entered the Cold War, Pearson signed the North Atlantic Treaty and helped orchestrate the armistice agreement that would end the Korean War.

After retiring from politics, he served as a lecturer in history and political science and Chancellor of Carleton University until his death in In , the Lester B. The influential leader has made a lasting impact on the country and the world.

Lester B. Pearson also headed the Canadian delegation to the UN from to , being elected to the presidency of the Seventh Session of the General Assembly in In the Suez crisis of , when the United Kingdom, France, and Israel invaded Egyptian territory, Pearson proposed and sponsored the resolution which created a United Nations Emergency Force to police that area, thus permitting the invading nations to withdraw with a minimum loss of face.

When the Liberals were defeated in the elections of , Pearson relinquished his cabinet post but, accepting that of leader of the Opposition, began to rebuild the party. Six years later, when the Conservative government lost the confidence of the electorate, especially on the issues raised by the Cuban confrontations between the United States and Russia, and when Pearson, after a careful review of his philosophical position on national defence, announced his willingness to accept nuclear warheads from the United States, the Liberal Party was voted enough strength to establish a government with Pearson as prime minister.

In control for five years, Pearson pursued a bipartisan foreign policy based on a philosophy of internationalism. In domestic policy he implemented programs long discussed but never adopted; among them, in the field of social legislation: provisions for old age pensions, medical care, and a generalized «war on poverty»; in education: governmental assistance for higher education and technical and vocational education; in governmental operations: redistribution of electoral districts and reformation of legislative procedures.

The most acrimonious debate of his half-decade in office centered on legislation to create a new flag for Canada. This legislation became the battlefield of the Conservatives, who wanted some portion of the design to recognize the traditions of the past, versus the Liberals, who wanted to eliminate historical symbols. The Liberals won and the new flag was raised on February 15, It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Pearson retired from the leadership of his party in the spring of and died in Selected Bibliography Ayre, W. Burton, Mr. Montreal, Wallace Press, I Beal, John R. Newman, Peter C. Nicholson, Patrick, Vision and Indecision. Ottawa, Longmans Canada, New York, Praeger, Princeton, N.

Cambridge, Mass. New York, Dodd, Mead, London, British Broadcasting Corporation, Vancouver, University of British Columbia, Poliquin, Jean-Marc, and John R.