John Alexander Macdonald (11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was Prime Minister of Canada from 1 July 1867 to 5 November 1873, preceding Alexander Mackenzie, and again from 17 October 1878 to 6 June 1891, succeeding Mackenzie and preceding John Abbott. He was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and he served as Canada's first post-independence leader.
Biography[]
John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 11 January 1815, and his family moved to Kingston, Upper Canada in 1820 after his father's business failed. He became a renowned lawyer in Kingston, and he was elected to the provincial legislature in 1844. By 1857, he had become premier of Canada West, serving in this position from 1856 to 1858, from 1858 to 1862, and from 1864 to 1867. Macdonald hoped to put an end to the unstable political system that was dominant in Canadian politics by forming a "grand coalition" with his rival George Brown, and his coalition's demand for federation and political reform led to Canada becoming a semi-independent dominion of the United Kingdom in 1867. He served as Prime Minister from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891, a total of 19 years. In 1873, he was forced to resign due to a bribery scandal involving railroad contracts, but he was re-elected in 1878. He used patronage to forge a strong Conservative Party of Canada, promoted protective tariffs, and alienated Francophones from his party after having metis leader Louis Riel executed in 1885. He died in office in 1891, and John Abbott succeeded him as Prime Minister.