'A very great man'

When fascist leaders arose in Europe, the danger wasn't obvious to everyone. Even a formidable politician like Mackenzie King could see a pinch of Joan of Arc in the 'spiritualist' Adolf Hitler

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Ken McGoogan’s new book “Shadows of Tyranny” seeks to parallel current political trends in the United States to the rise of totalitarianism in Europe in the 1930s. As some sounded alarm bells about Germany’s new leader, some were charmed — Canada’s PM emphatically among them.

In the spring of 1937, Canada’s prime minister was still clinging to the view, originally espoused by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that the greatest guarantee of world peace was a strong British Empire working in concert with the United States. By then, the media baron Lord Beaverbrook, a Canadian expatriate, had become furiously anti-Hitler. And Churchill himself was churning out syndicated political articles warning that the Nazis were rearming for war.

That William Lyon Mackenzie King did not perceive Hitler as a threat to the Empire presents a puzzle. What was wrong with the man? Certainly, he lived in a world of his own. Born in 1874 in Berlin, Ontario — now Kitchener, two hours west of Toronto — young William had grown up worshipping his mother far beyond what might be considered typical of a son, regarding her as a kind of saint. She was the daughter of William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of a failed Canadian rebellion in 1837. The grandson did not lack intelligence. He earned a scholarship to the University of Toronto, where he studied law, politics, and economics. Then he earned a doctorate at Harvard University before returning home to Canada and entering public service. He became a trusted adviser and confidant to prime minister Wilfrid Laurier and, after his death in 1919, became Liberal Party leader.