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Prologue

Laurier House, Ottawa

December 17, 1943

Best wishes on your birthday and God bless you and keep you in the best of health for your benefit and for the nations that have already benefitted where your name is written in their hearts and on their minds forever.

One of your loyal friends,

Mrs. Mabel Carlesso

Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King felt humbled to receive such a wonderful card for his sixty-ninth birthday. It was a moving tribute, a simple manifestation of trust. Yet, guiding the people of Canada so often felt like a burden, especially since the beginning of the war. With Christmas drawing nearer, King thought of the fighting men. His own nephew, Lyon King, had been killed, and King shuddered to think that many men might meet a similar fate. War raged abroad, but at home, English Canadians clamoured for overseas conscription while the people of Quebec were so strongly opposed to it that King feared civil war might befall his beloved country. Although he sometimes felt unsure and alone in the position of prime minister, King knew he had guidance. He felt those he loved, and who had left this earth, were still near him, assuring him that he was doing the will of God.

His life’s work was to help people. King put the flowered birthday card away and called for the dispatches. It was time to start his work for the day. It was time to address the problems of the Dominion of Canada, and indeed, the world.

But before King settled into reading the official documents before him, one of his secretaries, Dr. James Gibson, couldn’t help noticing the prime minister “beamed just a little.”

It was, after all, his birthday.