“Under your inspired leadership”: Dwight Eisenhower, Canadians, and the Canada–United States consensus, 1945–1961

DOI10.1177/0020702020978409
Date01 December 2020
Published date01 December 2020
Subject MatterScholarly Essay
Scholarly Essay
“Under your inspired
leadership”: Dwight
Eisenhower, Canadians,
and the Canada–United
States consensus,
1945–1961
Asa McKercher
Department of History, Royal Military College of Canada,
Kingston, Canada
Michael D. Stevenson
Department of History, Lakehead University, Orillia, Canada
Abstract
Drawing on newspaper and archival sources, this article examines post-war Canadian
attitudes towards Dwight D. Eisenhower, particularly during his time in office as the
United States President from 1953 to 1961. Eisenhower emerged from the Second
World War as a trusted figure for many Canadians due to his inspiring leadership of the
Allied cause. Once in the White House, however, his reputation began to suffer, and
public opinion in Canada increasingly questioned core elements of the traditional
Canada–United States relationship and America’s ability to lead the Western alliance
during a period of heightening Cold War tensions.
Keywords
Dwight Eisenhower, Canada–United States relations, public opinion, Louis St. Laurent,
John Diefenbaker
Corresponding author:
Michael D. Stevenson, Lakehead University, Ryan Building 3014, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario,
P7B 5E1, Canada.
Email: mstevens@lakeheadu.ca
International Journal
2020, Vol. 75(4) 471–486
!The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020702020978409
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
In January 1946, in what was billed as an opportunity to “pay him heart-felt
tributes,” Canadians welcomed General Dwight D. Eisenhower on a victory
tour.
1
Fresh off the successful Allied defeat of Nazi Germany, Eisenhower arrived
in Ottawa like a rock star: despite wintry weather, large crowds greeted his train at
Union Station and cheered him on as he visited the Parliament Buildings, the short
route lined by uniformed servicemen. Spending several days in Canada’s capital,
Ike dined privately with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, laid a
wreath at the National War Memorial, conferred with senior Canadian officers
regarding future military cooperation, and attended a Rideau Hall ball. After
leaving Ottawa—one reporter noted that the general could add the city to “his
list of victories”
2
—Eisenhower travelled to Toronto, where he received a
“tumultuous welcome,” complete with a tickertape parade.
3
Perhaps the highlight
of his Canadian visit came when Mackenzie King announced that Castle
Mountain, near Banff, would be renamed Mount Eisenhower, a testament to
the general’s “steadfastness and the security of his leadership.” Ike took it in
stride, quipping that doubtless the mountain peak was as bald as his head.
4
More seriously, in remarks delivered in Ottawa Eisenhower paid “humble trib-
ute” to the service and sacrifices of the hundreds of thousands of “my Canadians”
who had fought under his command. Going on to praise the close wartime col-
laboration between Canada and the United States, the general emphasized that
“the necessity for cooperation has not passed.”
5
These comments were widely
reported in the Canadian press, and Ike’s call for continued peacetime collabora-
tion was met with agreement. As the Montreal Gazette’s editors contended, in
terms of Canadian–American relations, the general’s tour was an important step
for helping to “bind still closer, on a more assuredly permanent basis, the integra-
tion of common purposes, of action and of resources achieved during the war.”
6
Dwight Eisenhower’s 1946 visit to Ottawa and Toronto is a minor footnote
in the history of Canada–United States relations. And yet the reception he
received from enthusiastic crowds, editorial writers, and government officials
showcases important changes in Canadians’ attitudes toward the United States
and that country’s role in the world, but also Canada’s own relationship with
its southern neighbour. Drawing on research conducted for a joint Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-supported project on
1. “Toronto welcomes Eisenhower,” Toronto Star, 12 January 1946.
2. “Joint defence affairs discussed by Premier King and Eisenhower,” Montreal Gazette, 12 January
1946.
3. “Crowds stand in chill sleet to greet Allied commander,” Ottawa Citizen, 9 January 1946; “US
Army chief honors Canadian dead at memorial,” Ottawa Citizen, 11 January 1946; and “City greets
Eisenhower in heart-warming style,” Globe and Mail, 14 January 1946.
4. “Peak in Rockies to be named after Gen. Eisenhower,” Ottawa Citizen, 10 January 1946; and Entry
for 10 January 1946, Library and Archives Canada [LAC], William Lyon Mackenzie King Diary.
5. Speech of General of the Army Eisenhower Before the Canadian Club, Ottawa, 10 January 1946,
LAC, RG 24, vol. 20394, file 956.009 (D16).
6. “A visit of opportunity,” Montreal Gazette, 10 January 1946.
472 International Journal 75(4)

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