Nobel Peace Prize Winners, part one. Lester B. Pearson may have saved the world

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation [1]

Lester B. (Mike) Pearson was the 14th Prime Minister of Canada (from 1963 to 1968). He was also a First World War Veteran, a diplomat, an academic, a semi-pro athlete, a politician and a passionate advocate (and partial creator) of U.N. peacekeeping missions.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for the role he played in defusing the Suez Crisis. From the Award Ceremony Presentation Speech by Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Committee:

Never, since the end of the last war, has the world situation been darker than during the Suez crisis, and never has the United Nations had a more difficult case to deal with. However, what actually happened has shown that moral force can be a bulwark against aggression and that it is possible to make aggressive forces yield without resorting to power. Therefore, it may well be said that the Suez crisis was a victory for the United Nations and for the man who contributed more than anyone else to save the world at that time. That man was Lester Pearson.
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During the Hungarian Revolution Lester Pearson spoke at the emergency special session of the General Assembly. He strongly advocated that an independent international authority should «enable all the Hungarian people, without fear of reprisal, to establish a free and democratic government of their own choice». «Why», he asked, «should we not now establish a suitable United Nations mission for Hungary when it has been agreed to form a United Nations authority in the Middle East?»[2]

Pearson was an always civil yet very effective negotiator who managed to get a tremendous amount done as Prime Minister without his party ever holding the majority of seats in Parliament. The Medical Heath Care Act of 1966 brought universal health care to Canadians. In the same year the Canadian Pension Plan was established.

Tens of thousands of Canadians live healthier, happier lives because of the work of Mike Pearson. Pearson worked to stop the bombing of Cairo and supported the right of Hungarians to control their own country.

A diplomat, a negotiator, a supporter of peace, an architect of universal health care and pension plans.

A good Canadian, a good citizen of the world and, therefore by the standards of LaHaye and Jenkins (Left Behind) an antichrist.

[1] "The Nobel Peace Prize 1957". Nobelprize.org. 4 Sep 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1957/

[2] "The Nobel Peace Prize 1957 - Presentation Speech". Nobelprize.org. 4 Sep 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1957/press.html