W.L. Mackenzie King

**William Lyon Mackenzie King LL.B., M.A., Ph.D., CMG OM PC, (17, December, 1874 - 22, July, 1950)**was a British author, diplomat, politician, and philosopher. During his career King served as Member of Parliament, fifth Minister of Foreign Affairs, fourth Minister of Labour and tenth Prime Minister of Canada.

King's administration consolidated increasing power in provincial government to address difficulties managing Canada's abundant resources, established a series of substantial welfare programs, increased immigration restrictions for all non-Europeans, oversaw the construction of the Alaska-Yukon Highway, and practiced military solidarity with the British Empire, deploying forces during the Second World War in service of King George VI.

King personally co-founded the North American Treaty Organization and the United Nations, drafted the *Opium Act of 1908* to combat the influx of opioids which accompanied Asian migrants to Canada, introduced the *Immigration Act of 1923* to preserve the Dominion's ethnic homogeneity, and planned the design of the Dominion's administrative capital in Ottawa.

## Biography

### Early Life

William Lyon Mackenzie King was born to John King, a lawyer and professor, and his wife Isabella (née Mackenzie,) at Berlin, Ontario on 17, December, 1874. He was the second of four children, including: Bella, Jennie and Max.

#### Education

King began studying at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a Master of Arts degree with a major in political economy and graduated in 1898. In 1908, King was awarded a Ph.D. for his doctoral thesis, a dissertation on east Asian immigration titled *Oriental Immigration to Canada*, while Deputy Minister of Labour.

## Family & Personal Life

### Personal Beliefs

#### Ethnicity & Race

King was an ardent ethnonationalist from an early age, having developed his philosophy over years amongst the alumni of universities in both Canada and the United States, and this generally influenced administrative policy in the King Ministry. King himself drafted the *Immigration Act of 1923*, reserving the freedom to migrate to Canada to western Europeans exclusively and presided over the internment and resettlement of 30,000 Japanese individuals living in Canada. In his 1908 dissertation on Asian immigration, for which he earned a Ph.D., King stated:

> "*That Canada should desire to restrict immigration and remain a white man's country is regarded as not only natural, but necessary for economic, political and social reasons.*" *- Oriental Immigration to Canada* by W.L. Mackenzie King
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Following the successful joint Anglo-Ashkenazim effort to produce atomic weapons and the subsequent decision to utilize them in the Pacific front during the Second World War, King wrote in his diary:

> "*It makes one very sad at heart to think of the loss of life that this will occasion among innocent people as well as those that are guilty. However, it is fortunate that the use of the bomb should have been upon the Japanese, rather than upon the races of Europe.*" *- Mackenzie King Diary*
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#### Religion

King was a lifelong Christian who adhered to the denominational beliefs and practices of the Presbyterian Protestants and established the substantial foundation of the Canadian welfare state on the basis of his religious principles.

## Trivia

* King was bilingual and fluent in English and French.
* King was Canada's most well-educated Prime Minister and the only one to have earned a Ph.D.
* King was the only Prime Minister of Canada to serve under three monarchs; George V, Edward VIII and George VI.
* King was the longest serving Prime Minister of any Dominion in the history of the British Empire.