In this stirring and beautifully written memoir, Lloyd Axworthy tells the unlikely story of a Canadian prairie boy raised in the Social Gospel tradition becoming a prominent force in both national and international politics. After studying politics at Princeton at the height of John F. Kennedy’s Camelot, and marching for civil rights in Alabama, he returned to Canada and embarked on an illustrious political career at the height of Trudeaumania.
Axworthy served as MLA in the Manitoba legislature for six years followed by twenty-one years in the House of Commons, more than half of those in the cabinets of Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, and Jean Chretien. With extraordinary candour and introspection, he invites readers inside his roles in some of the most important political stories of the last half century, including the enactment of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the great debate over the Canada-US free trade agreement, and the global fights to ban landmines and establish the International Criminal Court.
He illuminates such monumental events as the turnover of Hong Kong and Princess Diana’s funeral (at which he was Canada’s official representative), and offers unforgettable vignettes of encounters with a range of high-profile international figures from Fidel Castro to the Māori Queen. He also writes frankly about the disappointments of political life and the challenges of staying true to progressive ideals while dealing with the often brutal requirements of political power. In an open, personal manner he tells of how the contributions of his wife and the support of a network of family, colleagues, and friends helped him stay the course.