Thumper : The Memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald

A political life well-lived that propelled Canada forward for the ages. 'At a certain point in our lives we are left only with our close relationships and our clear recollections.'So begins Thumper: The Memoirs of the Honourable Donald S. Macdonald. An early supporter of Pierre Trudeau for the Liberal Party leadership, Donald Macdonald has had a career in public life spanning four decades that included posts as House leader, minister of national defence, minister of energy, and minister of finance. He chaired the landmark Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada, which led to free trade between Canada and the United States, and as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom he conferred with Margaret Thatcher and dined with Queen Elizabeth II. Drawing on extensive archival resources and contemporaneous personal diaries, Macdonald insightfully details his friendship with Trudeau, fascinating encounters with world leaders, and personal revelations about the October Crisis. In this behind-the-scenes account of the business of governing, he also describes high-stakes disputes with Alberta over soaring energy prices, the real story behind the resignation of John Turner as finance minister, and the decisive action taken against inflation using wage and price controls. Interlaced with anecdotes that reveal Macdonald's self-effacing good-nature, Thumper is a riveting memoir written with humility and candour, recalling an exceptional period in Canadian politics. Cover Title Contents Foreword 1 Ancestral Voices 2 Setting My Compass 3 Band of Brothers 4 The Suez and Other Crises 5 The Accidental Candidate 6 MP for Rosedale 7 Pierre and Me 8 Tomorrow’s Man 9 Inside the Cabinet Room 10 Herding Cats 11 The October Crisis 12 Blue-Eyed Sheiks 13 Zap, You’re Frozen 14 Meetings of the Minds 15 Heir Rampant 16 Private Life, Public Duty 17 Leap of Faith 18 Coup de foudre 19 Maggie and the Royals 20 Plugged In 21 Reflections on a Life Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index