C.D. Howe

Clarence Decatur Howe was born in New England and trained as an engineer. He began his career as a teacher at Dalhousie University, and went on to establish a highly successful company specializing in the construction of grain elevators. When the price of wheat plummeted in the thirties, Howe moved into politics, joining Mackenzie King's cabinet in 1935 as elected representative of the Lakehead. Howe's business sense was to hallmark his political career. His practical "get things done" philosophy and his impatience with the slowness of democratic process earned him the nicknames "Dictator Howe" and "Minister of Everything", but his results were spectacular. As a Minister of Transport, Howe formed the National Harbours Board, restructured the Canadian National Railway and founded organized Trans-Canada Airlines. During the war years, as Minister of Munitions and Supply, Howe galvanized a largely agricultural Canada into industrial activity, establishing plants for the production of arms, aircraft, tanks and ships. When the war ended, Howe supervised the conversion of the wartime industries, helping establish Canada as a thriving industrial nation. This biography illuminates not only one of the most powerful figures in recent Canadian history, but also the unique circumstances which permitted his rise to success.