Macdonald biography
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A Brief Biography of George MacDonald
Excerpt from George MacDonald (Twayne Publishers, 1972) by Richard Reis
Although Greville MacDonald’s exhaustive biography of his father has relieved me of any obligation to chronicle MacDonald’s life at length, it does seem appropriate to review the facts of his career briefly. The son’s biography is, naturally, the source of most of these facts; and it is sufficiently authoritative not to require correction. George MacDonald and His Wife is invaluable as a source of information, as a repository of letters unpublished elsewhere, and, to a lesser extent, for its earnest but rather inexpert critical commentary. I must stress, however, that the biography displays the faults of many such works by the sons of notable fathers. Greville MacDonald insists that his father was the best writer and the wisest man who has ever lived and that he has been maligned and misunderstood by the ignoramuses who fail to concede the point. It is very likely, ind
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John A. Macdonald
Prime Minister of Canada (1867–1873; 1878–1891)
This article is about the Canadian prime minister. For people with similar names, see John Macdonald (disambiguation) and John Alexander Macdonald (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald GCB PC QC | |
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Macdonald, c. 1875 | |
| In office 17 October 1878 – 6 June 1891 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governors General | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Mackenzie |
| Succeeded by | John Abbott |
| In office 1 July 1867 – 5 November 1873 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governors General | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Mackenzie |
| In office 1 July 1867 – 6 June 1891 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | John Abbott |
| In office 1867 – 6 June 1891 | |
| In office 30 May 1864 – 30 June 1867 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | John Sandfield Macdonald |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| In offic • Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–91) was prime minister for 19 of Canada’s first 24 years of existence. The key architect of confederation in 1867, he established the institutions of federal government, incorporated new territory, enacted the high-tariff National Policy, suppressed the North-West rebellion, and built the Canadian Pacific Railway. Macdonald had considerable success in his pursuit of a transcontinental nation founded on English-French accommodation, the British connection, and economic prosperity. At the same time, his residential school policies had appalling consequences for Indigenous peoples, and he attempted on racial grounds to restrict kinesisk immigration to Canada. MACDONALD, Sir JOHN ALEXANDER, lawyer, businessman, and politician; b. 10 Jan. 1815 (the registered date) or 11 Jan. (the date he and his family celebrated) in Glasgow, Scotland, son of Hugh Macdonald and Helen Shaw; m. first 1 Sept. 1843 Isabella Clark (d. 1857) | |