Hi i need some help on my essay here please, i am not a very good essay writer, so please feel free to point out any issues,. thank you very much.
John Diefenbaker
Biography Essay
There is a very famous statement by john Diefenbaker "I am the first prime minister of this country of neither English nor French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration...I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin and they are all Canadians." John Diefenbaker, March 29, 1958. He stated this because he originated from Germany, but Diefenbaker himself was born in Canada.
John Diefenbaker was born on September 18, 1895, Neustadt, Ontario. Early life was little rough, his family moved to several locations in Ontario in John's early years. There is nothing much to know about this childhood, The Diefenbaker family moved west in 1903, because john's father Mr. William Diefenbaker accepted a position of teaching job near Fort Carlton, then in the Northwest Territories. In February 1910, the Diefenbaker family moved to Saskatoon To where the University of Saskatchewan is located today. William and Mary Diefenbaker felt that John and his brother Elmer would have greater educational opportunities in Saskatoon. John took interest in the politics since he was young. Around the ager of eight he told his mom that he would someday be Prime Minister. She told him that it was an impossible ambition, especially for a boy living on the prairies. John's first interaction with politics was in 1910, when at a train station he sold a newspaper to the Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier; John had a conversation with him about politics and current affairs of those times. Sir Wilfred was very well impressed by John, especially the way John ended the conversation by saying, "I can't waste any more time on you, Prime Minister. I must get about my work."
John finished high school within Saskatoon in 1912, and then he entered University of Saskatchewan. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in 1915 and his master of arts the following year. Within 1916, John was enlisted in the army. He served for one year in Britain before being invalidated because he was hit by a showel and returned home. John didn't leave his education, he finished by studying law. In order to help pay for his education at University of Saskatchewan law courses, John peddled his bicycle for miles from farm to farm selling books. He graduated with an LL.B. in 1919. He set up a law practice in Wakaw, near Prince Albert. John quickly established himself as a successful criminal lawyer. Over his 20-year career, he defended 18 men from the death penalty. John first married Edna Bower in 1929, but that didn't work out so well for him, and he divorced her, and got married to another woman named Olive Palmer in 1959. This marriage was going great however he still had passion for politics.
After finishing his education and becoming a successful criminal lawyer, it was time for John Diefenbaker to enter the politics, one step closer to his dream of becoming PM. John ran for a seat in the House of Commons in 1925 and 1926, but lost. He tried the provincial legislature in 1929 and 1938, but lost again. His attempt to run for mayor of Prince Albert in 1933 also failed. At last Diefenbaker was elected leader of the Conservative party of Saskatchewan in 1936, but the party won no seats in the 1938 election. Finally in the 1940 election, he won a Commons seat in the Opposition. Diefenbaker began his campaign for the average Canadian and ethnic minorities. In 1942, he criticized the government's treatment of Japanese-Canadians. He even opposed his own party in his crusades; in 1948 he blocked a Conservative campaign to outlaw the Communist party. This was the kick-off for John Diefenbaker's political career.
In the House of Commons, he debated unlike anyone else, he threw questions at the governing party that would make them speechless and they absolutely hated it when John Diefenbaker would stand up and start asking questions, people would also trust him when he brought up his touchy issues and this is how he got famous, his name started coming in newspapers. His party won a minor government in the 1957 general election; defeating Louis St. Laurent and the Liberals which had been in office for the last 22 years meanwhile he was also elected as the 13th prime minister of Canada. In 1960, his party gain massive popularity and he won majority of seats in the House of Commons, his party name was changed from "conservative" to "progressive conservative" which was just to get the attention of young people but it was just a fail move to change the name because it was changed many times during that year, but still their party was gaining popularity when John Diefenbaker became prime minister, john led the progressive conservative to three consecutive win in elections.
John Diefenbaker's Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act helped many struggling farmers across Canada, and Canada also started doing business with china, he found a market for their wheat china, the U.S opposed this because China was the communist country and Soviet's allies but John didn't care about the war he cared about the prosperity of the nation. , Diefenbaker implemented a Bill of Rights to protect the fundamental rights of Canadians. Diefenbaker was also responsible for changing the laws that made it possible for Aboriginal people to vote in federal elections. They were not permitted to vote before 1960. He was also the first prime minister to appoint a female cabinet minister.
Tension were rising between the Soviets and Allies, the cold war had started, and both sides were preparing for war, the soviets had launched their satellite sputnik in the orbit and they could bomb nuclear bombs but only through a bomber, this is why the allies working on the arrow Avro project in Ontario, the goal of this project was to develop a jet interceptor this was supposed to be the best defense against the soviet bombers, the government was funding this project heavily and about $400 million had been spent on this project but on 20th Feb, 1959 John Diefenbaker announced the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project and there were many reasons behind it, the main reason was the cost it was extremely high and the arrow had not yet been completed after months, another reason was that the fighter jets were becoming useless because it was the age of missiles, nuclear bombs can now be delivered through ground missile delivery system, the cancellation of this project caused a shock to the whole country and John is still remembered today for this reason.
The conservative now were back to minority in 1962 and lost the 1963 elections, the main reasons of the loss of the party were high unemployment and the dollar 'value was also lowered and the cancellation of the Avro arrow project but he continued to lead the progressive conservative party as the leader of the opposition, later in 1967 he lost a leadership vote within his own to Robert Stanfield, one of the main reason for his downfall was because of the fact that his policies were very radical He was member of the Progressive Conservative party, but his policies often went against its name,People switched to other parties because they felt they did not where the progressive conservative was going. He continued to represent his riding in the Commons. He won his last election in 1979, three months before his death on August 16.
John Diefenbaker is one of the greatest prime ministers Canada ever had, He was also very concerned on the safety, rights and freedoms of those he had power over and even those who he did not. He served people's interests very well, mainly farmers and the all the people of Canada, he always tried to do what was best for the country. Diefenbaker was influenced by Sir John A. Macdonald , and he was wanted to have a state funeral as grand as Sir John A. Macdonald. When the train that carried his body went from Ottawa to Saskatoon, people stood beside the track to pay their last respects to the man who, for all his weaknesses and failures, is still remembered for his power of speech, his affection for the people, and his inspiring vision of a great Canada. He was buried in Saskatoon.
I would paraphrase rather than cite in the first paragraph. For example instead of saying: There is a very famous statement by john Diefenbaker "I am the first prime minister of this country of neither English nor French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration...I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin and they are all Canadians." John Diefenbaker, March 29, 1958. He stated this because he originated from Germany, but Diefenbaker himself was born in Canada. You could put somehow in this way: John Diefenabaker was the first Canadian prime minister of German origin. In one of his statements ("title") Diefenbaker talks about his citizenship and declares that he "determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration"(author page number), implying in this way that regardless of their roots, he and his colleagues were all Canadians. Also, you need to cite the statement, otherwise is plagiarism.
Try to vary the sentences length. It makes it more interesting and avoids run-on sentences out . For example: John Diefenbaker is one of the greatest prime ministers Canada ever had, He was also very concerned on the safety, rights and freedoms of those he had power over and even those who he did not. He served people's interests very well, mainly farmers and the all the people of Canada, he always tried to do what was best for the country. This could be cut into: John Diefenbaker is one of the greatest prime ministers of Canada. His concern for the safety, rights and freedom of the Canadians and the dedication to serve their interests, show that he truly wanted to do what was best for the country. Hope this helps!
