Pierre Trudeau's Memoirs

I have piles of books that I have set apart for reading as I have the time. Maybe that’s normal behavior for a lifelong bibliophile. I only proceed slowly because (1) I am a slow reader (or maybe a lazy reader), (2) I often get sleepy reading, and so don’t read far in one sitting (or reposing), and (3) I am really busy with other things. Nonetheless, I occasionally get a book read, unlike Theodore Roosevelt who is said to have read three books a day for much of his adult life.

This week I finished reading Memoirs by Pierre Trudeau. The book added depth and breadth to my perspective of the man who gave the rose a bad name. A powerful intellect was he.

He seems to have cared a lot about how his readership would judge him. He emphasizes in the early going his typical Canadian background: he grew up in modest circumstances. For crying out loud, the family summer home didn’t even have adequate plumbing.

Another notable aspect of the book is the coverage of his early adulthood. The man had courage and a well-developed sense of adventure, traipsing across Asia, including China during its civil war. I can see that he brought an unusual background to the Prime Minister’s office.

His sense of Canada --- the notion that the nation is a federation of sovereign people rather than an agreement between provinces and territories --- informed his approach to governance. He seems to have been a liberal at heart, although his legislation was often Liberal rather than liberal, it seems to me.

I recommend the book, or at least parts of it: many interesting photos of one of the most photographed people in history, and interesting anecdotes and explanations…… and excuses.