Louis Stephen St-Laurent
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The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent PC CC QC |
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St. Laurent in the 1950s.
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| 12th Prime Minister of Canada | |
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In office 15 November 1948 – 21 June 1957 |
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| Monarch | |
| Governor-General | |
| Preceded by | W. L. Mackenzie King |
| Succeeded by | John Diefenbaker |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Louis Stephen St-Laurent 1 February 1882 Compton, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | 25 July 1973 (aged 91) Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Resting place | Saint Thomas d'Aquin Cemetery, Compton, Quebec |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Canada |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Renault |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Signature |  |
Louis Stephen St. Laurent PC CC QC (Saint-Laurent or St-Laurent in French, baptized Louis-Étienne St-Laurent; 1 February 1882 – 25 July 1973) was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada, from 15 November 1948 to 21 June 1957. He was a Liberal with a strong base in the Catholic francophone community, from which base he had long mobilised support to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. His foreign policy initiatives transformed Canada from an isolationist ex-colony with little role in world affairs to an active "middle power". St. Laurent was an enthusiastic proponent of Canada's joining NATO in 1949 to fight Communist totalitarianism, overcoming opposition from some intellectuals, the Labor-Progressive Party, and many French Canadians. The contrast with Mackenzie King was not dramatic – they agreed on most policies. St. Laurent had more hatred of communism, and less fear of the United States. He was neither an idealist nor a bookish intellectual, but an "eminently moderate, cautious conservative man ... and a strong Canadian nationalist".
Louis St-Laurent (French pronunciation: [lwi sɛ̃ lɔʁɑ̃]) was born on 1 February 1882 in Compton, Quebec, a village in the Eastern Townships to Jean-Baptiste-Moïse Saint-Laurent, a French-Canadian, and Mary Anne Broderick, an Irish-Canadian. He grew up fluently bilingual. His English had a noticeable Irish brogue, while his gestures (such as a hunch of the shoulders) were French.
He received degrees from Séminaire Saint-Charles-Borromée (B.A. 1902) and Université Laval (LL.L. 1905). He was offered, but declined, a Rhodes Scholarship upon this graduation from Laval in 1905. In 1905 he married Jeanne Renault (1886–1966) with whom he had two sons and three daughters.
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