Lester Pearson

The Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson OM CC OBE PC PC
Pearson in 1957
14th Prime Minister of Canada
In office 22 April 1963 (1963-04-22) – 20 April 1968 (1968-04-20)
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Georges Vanier Roland Michener
Preceded by	John Diefenbaker
Succeeded by	Pierre Trudeau
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
In office 16 January 1958 (1958-01-16) – 6 April 1968 (1968-04-06)
Preceded by	Louis St. Laurent
Succeeded by	Pierre Trudeau
Leader of the Opposition
In office 16 January 1958 (1958-01-16) – 22 April 1963 (1963-04-22)
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	John Diefenbaker
Preceded by	Louis St. Laurent
Succeeded by	John Diefenbaker
8th Secretary of State for External Affairs
In office 10 September 1948 (1948-09-10) – 20 June 1957 (1957-06-20)
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King Louis St. Laurent
Preceded by	Louis St. Laurent
Succeeded by	John Diefenbaker
2nd Canadian Ambassador to the United States
In office 1944–1946
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Leighton McCarthy
Succeeded by	H. H. Wrong
8th President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 1952
Preceded by	Luis Padilla Nervo
Succeeded by	Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Algoma East
In office 25 October 1948 (1948-10-25) – 23 April 1968 (1968-04-23)
Preceded by	Thomas Farquhar
Succeeded by	None (district abolished)
Personal details
Born	Lester Bowles Pearson (1897-04-23)23 April 1897 Newtonbrook, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	27 December 1972(1972-12-27) (aged 75) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Resting place	MacLaren Cemetery, Wakefield, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Maryon Pearson (m. 1925)
Children	Geoffrey Pearson, Patricia Pearson
Education	Victoria College, Toronto (B.A.) St John's College, Oxford (B.A., M.A.)
Profession	Diplomat, historian, soldier
Awards	Nobel Prize for Peace (1957)
Signature
Military service
Nickname(s)	"Mike"
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Army-Permanent Active Militia Royal Flying Corps
Years of service	1915–18
Rank	Lieutenant Flying Officer
Battles/wars	First World War

Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson OM CC OBE PC PC (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, soldier and diplomat, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis. He was the 14th Prime Minister of Canada from 22 April 1963 to 20 April 1968, as the head of two back-to-back Liberal minority governments following elections in 1963 and 1965.

During Pearson's time as Prime Minister, his Liberal minority governments introduced universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan, the Order of Canada, and the Maple Leaf flag. His Liberal government also unified Canada's armed forces. Pearson convened the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, and he kept Canada out of the Vietnam War. In 1967, his government passed Bill C-168, which abolished de facto capital punishment in Canada by restricting it to a few capital offenses for which it was never used, and which themselves were abolished in 1976. With these accomplishments, together with his groundbreaking work at the United Nations and in international diplomacy, Pearson is generally considered among the most influential Canadians of the 20th century and is ranked among the top six greatest Canadian Prime Ministers.