Commentary
Sir John A. Macdonald was a hard act to follow, as four successors in five years found out. No other prime minister has matched his expansive mastery or faith in the parliamentary system, let alone the profound public esteem he enjoyed.
For his son, too, the legacy could be a burden, yet Sir Hugh John Macdonald went on to become the oak of his generation, described as a man of outstanding qualities and “Manitoba’s all time kindliest gentleman.”
Hugh strove to be his own man, to strike out on his own. Between 1866 and 1885 he served three military tours on the front lines of Victorian Canada’s survival, much more, unfortunately, than any Canadian prime minister can say. Yet, says historian Hal Guest, “He bore the burden of heredity throughout his life,” and could never escape being “the old man’s son.”…