[RB Bennett: The Calgary Years]

Abstract

R.B. BENNETT: THE CALGARY YEARS. James H. Gray. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.THE LONER: THREE SKETCHES OF THE PERSONAL LIFE AND IDEAS OF R.B. BENNETT, 1870-1947. P.B. Waite. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.REACTION AND REFORM: THE POLITICS OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY UNDER R.B. BENNETT, 1927-1938. Larry A. Glassford. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.ABERHART: OUTPOURINGS AND REPLIES. Ed. David R. Elliott. Calgary: Historical Society of Alberta, 1991."JUST CALL ME MITCH": THE LIFE OF MITCHELL F. HEPBURN. John T. Saywell. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.DUFF PATTULLO OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. Robin Fisher. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.Over the last two decades, the strictures levelled by the new social historians towards politics and its practitioners has not been without justification; certainly the many Whiggish hagiographies which permeated our national literature throughout the first half of this century left such a poor aftertaste as to mar both the legitimacy and value of political biography as a worthy field of historical inquiry. As yet few have taken seriously Gertrude Himmelfarb's call to redress the imbalance posed by an exclusive presentation towards social history.(f.1) While it is undoubtedly true that the lives and experiences of the masses is crucial to our understanding of the past, there is equal value in studying those individuals (and the political culture surrounding them) who possessed the power to manage and administer the state. This becomes all the more imperative when studying this century's most discordant decade -- the 1930s -- when "ordinary people" were attempting to eke out a living. How, to paraphrase Trevelyan, can we write a true history of the social impact of, in this case, the "Dirty Thirties," with the politicians left out?Thankfully, six recent studies attempt to fill this void. When, in 1985, John Thompson and Alan Seager completed their general study of Canada during the interwar years, there were few biographical studies of depression-era leaders.(f.2) If one discounts the mildly hagiographic output of Beaverbrook and Watkins, R.B. Bennett and the Conservative party had not yet received serious scholarly attention.(f.3) Although Mitch Hepburn of Ontario appeared adequately covered in Neil McKenty's 1967 biography, a more thorough and indepth study awaited, commissioned in the following decade by the Ontario Historical Studies Series.(f.4) As for William Aberhart of Alberta and Duff Pattullo of British Columbia, neither had been taken seriously, at least not until very recently. Now, these four Depression leaders are the subject of six monographs.With the possible exception of the now retired Tory incarnation from Baie Comeau, there has been no Canadian prime minister more unpopular than R.B. Bennett (1930-1935). Perceived by the general public as far too pompous and wealthy to be leading the country through the ravages of a severe depression, Bennett has long since suffered from the searing images of cartoonist Arch Dale's "quarter-truth" caricatures: that of the arrogant and overbearing politician whose spats, wing-collars and walking stick imparted a distinctive robber-baronesque hue. Taking the measure of such men is not always an appealing prospect for historians and biographers, but we must at least attempt to understand them. Commendably, two recent studies have succeeded in scraping away some of Bennett's hard-shelled exterior and, more importantly, in explaining the underpinnings of his much-criticized management of the Canadian economy during the early Depression years.For anyone familiar with the enormity of the Bennett Papers (627,000 separate microfilm entries), the biographer's task is, to say the least, daunting. For this reason alone James Gray and Peter Waite are collaborating on a two-volume rendering of Bennett's life. James Gray's R.B. Bennett: The Calgary Years addresses Bennett's upbringing and walks the reader through R. …