Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935.
Bennett was born in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick, and grew up nearby in Hopewell Cape. He studied law at Dalhousie University, graduating in 1893, and in 1897 moved to Calgary to establish a law firm in partnership with James Lougheed. Bennett became very rich due to the law practice, various investments, and taking on leadership roles in multiple organizations; he was one of the wealthiest Canadians during his time. On the political side, Bennett served in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1898 until 1905, when he briefly held the post as the inaugural leader of the Alberta Conservative Party. He later served in the Alberta Legislature from 1909 to 1911, resigning upon his election to the House of Commons. Bennett declined to run for reelection in 1917 but briefly served as minister of justice under Arthur Meighen in 1921. He returned to the Commons in 1925 and served briefly as minister of finance in Meighen's second government in 1926. Meighen resigned the Conservative Party's leadership after his defeat in the 1926 election, with Bennett elected as his replacement in 1927. Thus, Bennett became leader of the Opposition.
Bennett became prime minister after the 1930 election, where the Conservatives won a majority government over William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party. Bennett's premiership was marked primarily by the Great Depression. He and his party initially tried to combat the crisis with laissez-faire policies, but these were largely ineffective. He was also unsuccessful in establishing an imperial preference free trade agreement. Over time, Bennett's government became increasingly interventionist, attempting to replicate the popular "New Deal" enacted by Franklin Roosevelt in the United States. This about-face prompted a split within Conservative ranks and was regarded by the general public as evidence of incompetence. Still, he left lasting legacies in the form of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) and the Bank of Canada.
Bennett suffered a landslide defeat in the 1935 election, with King returning to power. Bennett remained leader of the Conservative Party until 1938 when he retired to England. He was created Viscount Bennett, the only Canadian prime minister to be honoured with elevation to the peerage. Bennett is ranked as a below-average prime minister among historians.
Bennett was born on July 3, 1870, when his mother, Henrietta Stiles, was visiting her parents' home in Hopewell Hill, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the eldest of six children and grew up nearby at the Bay of Fundy home of his father, Henry John Bennett, in Hopewell Cape, the shire town of Albert County. Bennett's father descended from English ancestors who had emigrated to Connecticut in the 17th century. His great-great-grandfather, Zadock Bennett, migrated from New London, Connecticut, to Nova Scotia c. 1760, before the American Revolution, as one of the New England Planters who took the lands forcibly removed from the deported Acadians during the Great Upheaval.
The Bennetts had previously been a relatively prosperous family, operating a shipyard in Hopewell Cape, but the change to steam-powered vessels in the mid-19th century meant the gradual winding down of their business. However, the household was a literate one, subscribing to three newspapers. One of the largest and last ships launched by the Bennett shipyard (in 1869) was the Sir John A. Macdonald. In the 1870s depression, the shipbuilding business of Henry John Bennett appeared insufficient to support his family and some believed he was an ineffective businessman. Henry John had now become a merchant, blacksmith, and farmer. R. B. Bennett's early days inculcated a lifelong habit of thrift. The driving force in his family was his mother. She was a Wesleyan Methodist and passed this faith and the Protestant ethic on to her son. Bennett's father does not appear to have been a good provider for his family, though the reason is unclear. He operated a general store for a while and tried to develop some gypsum deposits.
Educated in the local school, Bennett was a very good student but something of a loner. In addition to his Protestant faith, Bennett grew up with an abiding love of the British Empire, then at its apogee. A small legacy his mother received opened the doors for him to attend the normal school in Fredericton, where he trained to be a teacher; he then taught for several years at Irishtown, north of Moncton, saving his money for law school. At age 18, Bennett became principal of a school in Douglastown, New Brunswick.
University, early legal career (1890–1897)
Bennett enrolled at Dalhousie University in 1890, graduating in 1893 with a law degree and very high standing. He worked his way through with a job as assistant in the library and participated in debating and moot court activities. When James Lougheed needed a junior for his Calgary law office, Bennett was recommended by the dean, Dr. Richard Chapman Weldon.
Bennett was then a partner in the Chatham, New Brunswick, law firm of Tweedie and Bennett. Max Aitken (later to become Lord Beaverbrook) was his office boy. Aitken persuaded Bennett to run for alderman in the first Town Council of Chatham. Aitken managed Bennett's campaign and Bennett was elected by 19 votes out of 691 cast.
Political, law, and business success (1897–1911)
Despite his election to the Chatham Town Council, Bennett's days in the town were numbered. In 1897, he moved to Calgary, North-West Territories. He negotiated to become the law partner of James Lougheed, Calgary's richest man and most successful lawyer. By 1905, Bennett was buying and selling land and was successful at it due to the law firm's retainer being the Canadian Pacific Railway. Bennett also invested in an oil company, Calgary Petroleum Products Company, and became director and solicitor. He also worked with Aitken to produce the Alberta Pacific Grain Company, Canada Cement, and Calgary Power. Bennett's reputation grew. Bennett described himself as a teetotaler (although he was known to occasionally drink alcohol when the press was not around).
Bennett was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories in the 1898 general election, representing the riding of West Calgary. Aitken managed this campaign too. Bennett was re-elected to a second term in office in 1902 as an independent. He gained the nickname "Bonfire Bennett" due to his extemporaneous, quick, and persuasive speaking manner.
In 1905, when Alberta was carved out of the Territories and made a province, Bennett became the first leader of the Alberta Conservative Party, though he lost in a landslide in that year's election to the Liberals. In 1909, he won a seat in the provincial legislature.
In 1908 Bennett was one of five people appointed to the first Library Board for the city of Calgary and was instrumental in establishing the Calgary Public Library. In 1910, Bennett became a director of Calgary Power Ltd. (now TransAlta Corporation) and just a year later he became president. His leadership projects completed included the first storage reservoir at Lake Minnewanka, a second transmission line to Calgary, and the construction of the Kananaskis Falls hydro station. At that time, he was also the director of Rocky Mountains Cement Company and Security Trust.
Bennett's corporate law firm included notable clients such as the Canadian Pacific Railway and Hudson's Bay Company. The law firm was in the Clarence Block building, at 122 8th Ave in Calgary, also known as the historic Stephen Avenue, which was owned by fellow partner in the firm, James Lougheed. The firm was on the second floor, above a Hartt Shoe Company retail store, a dress shoe manufacturer based in Bennett's home province of New Brunswick, of which he was known to be a customer. He worked with his childhood friend, Max Aitken, on many successful ventures, including stock purchases, land speculation, and the buying and merging of small companies. Before he was 40, Bennett was a multi-millionaire who lived in the Palliser Hotel. Though a lifelong bachelor, he dated women. In terms of personality, Bennett was accused of arrogance and of having a volatile temper. Bennett's wealth helped him become a philanthropist; he donated to schools, hospitals, charities, and individuals in need. He became richer when he started gaining control of the match company, E. B. Eddy Company, between 1906 and 1918. His growing control of the company occurred due to his longtime friendship with Jennie Grahl Hunter Eddy, who trusted Bennett with the company after her husband, Ezra Butler Eddy, died in 1906. By 1926, Bennett gained full control of the company. Bennett was one of the richest Canadians at that time. He helped put many poor, struggling young men through university.