Portrait of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker was born in Neustadt, Ontario in 1895. He become a trial lawyer and legendary orator. He brought in the Canadian Bill of Rights, guaranteed voting rights to Indigenous Canadians, and appointed Ellen Fairclough as the first female cabinet minister. His fractious relationship with the government of U.S. President John F. Kennedy fomented dissent in his own cabinet and contributed to his downfall.
Cleeve Horne’s 1968 portrait is notably modern, with angular drapery on the robe, granite-like carving of the face, and a contrasting vertical pattern in the background. It’s an image of a man of dogged determination.