“I am not afraid to be called a politician,” declared Paul Martin Sr., defending his life’s work in politics. “Next to preaching the word of God, there is nothing nobler than to serve one’s fellow countrymen in government.” First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, Martin served in the cabinet of four prime ministers and ran for the Liberal Party leadership three times. This book examines his remarkable career as a liberal reformer and politician who tackled the issues of his day with consummate political skill and gritty determination.

Cutting a broad swath through the history of twentieth-century Canada, Greg Donaghy uses extensive interviews and untapped archival sources to challenge the prevailing view of Martin as simply an ambitious Windsor ward heeler and party operator. Martin embraced a tolerant politics of compromise and accommodation that sought to unite Canadians in search of a more just and equitable world. Though some mocked his ambition and doubted his progressive politics, his resolute championing of health care and pension rights, new meanings for Canadian citizenship, and internationalism in world affairs would leave an indelible mark on Canada’s political landscape.

Greg Donaghy is Head of the Historical Section at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and General Editor of its series, Documents on Canadian External Relations. His publications include Tolerant Allies: Canada and the United States, 1963-68, and the edited collection (with Patricia Roy) Contradictory Impulses: Canada and Japan in the 20th Century.

Greg Donaghy's profile page

During his lifetime Martin published two volumes of memoirs, and the diaries he kept while High Commissioner. But they are dull stuff: too long, too detailed, too stiff; as one reviewer put it, he left out the politics. Donaghy’s impeccably researched and immensely readable biography, which draws on new material and numerous interviews, shows the extent to which Martin undersold himself. It also reveals him to be a very complex, highly intelligent, well-read, thoughtful, likeable, convivial, and witty man. It is one of the best biographies I have read in the last decade.

British Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 29 No. 2, Fall 2016

Greg Donaghy paints a picture of a man whose ambition never superseded his fundamental decency, his connection to individuals both great and small, and his unwavering loyalty to colleagues, constituents and indeed a country that often treated him with something less than loyalty. This is both a fascinating study of twentieth-century Canada and the somewhat poignant story of a boy with big dreams.

Ontario History

In his detailed biography, Greg Donaghy ably chronicles the key roles that Martin played in ... Canadian political and international history ... Grit will surely serve as a valuable reference tool for scholars interested in the inner workings of policy formation and ministerial wrangling, and it illuminates our understanding of one of Canada’s important twentieth century political operatives.

Canadian Journal of History