{"id":22580,"date":"2017-03-27T16:35:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T16:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/?post_type=cu_story&#038;p=22580"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:30:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:30:18","slug":"history-professor-on-trudeaumania","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/story\/history-professor-on-trudeaumania\/","title":{"rendered":"Trudeaumania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-max  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n        \n                    \n                    \n            \n    <div class=\"cu-wideimage relative flex items-center justify-center mx-auto px-8 overflow-hidden md:px-16 rounded-xl not-prose  my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 bg-opacity-50 bg-cover bg-cu-black-50 py-24 md:py-28 lg:py-36 xl:py-48\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Large.jpg); background-position: 50% 50%;\">\n\n                    <div class=\"absolute top-0 w-full h-screen\" style=\"background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.600);\"><\/div>\n        \n        <div class=\"relative z-[2] max-w-4xl w-full flex flex-col items-center gap-2 cu-wideimage-image cu-zero-first-last\">\n            <header class=\"mx-auto mb-6 text-center text-white cu-pageheader cu-component-updated cu-pageheader--center md:mb-12\">\n\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold mb-2 text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] cu-pageheader--center text-center mx-auto after:left-px\">\n                        Trudeaumania\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                            <\/header>\n        <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    \n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Karsh-Leather-Coat.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"366\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Karsh-Leather-Coat.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau by Yousuf Karsh \u2013 November 4, 1968. Trudeau often wore this leather coat on the campaign trail.\" class=\"wp-image-22615\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Karsh-Leather-Coat.jpg 366w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Karsh-Leather-Coat-200x284.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Pierre Trudeau by Yousuf Karsh. Trudeau often wore this leather jacket in the winter months while campaigning for the Liberal leadership. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2015, Canadians reacquainted themselves with the expression \u201cTrudeaumania.\u201d After ten years of Conservative Party rule under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the election of the Liberal Party of Canada leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberal.ca\/rt-hon-justin-trudeau\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Trudeau<\/a> as the nation\u2019s new Prime Minister was celebrated by many as an overdue change for a country in need of a progressive makeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through an election strategy which relied heavily on an extensive social media campaign and a thorough understanding of popular culture, Trudeau canvassed Canada making promises of national unity and progressive policy. This brand of modern idealism was accentuated by the fact that it came from someone who perfectly personified the message. Equipped with youthful looks and flawlessly tailored suits, Trudeau parlayed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liberal.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LPC<\/a> from its pre-election third party standing to a commanding majority government. This victory assured that Canada would experience at least nineteen years of Government under a Prime Minister Trudeau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the 2015 election victory may have felt fresh and progressive to Canada&#8217;s Millennials and Gen Xers,&nbsp;Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation were experiencing a dose of \u201cTrudeaumania\u201d d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. In fact, anyone who lived through the original iteration of Trudeaumania is likely to contend that, compared to Pierre\u2019s iconic rise to power, Justin\u2019s ascension felt a touch conventional. As the saying goes, history never repeats itself, but it often rhymes. Bearing this mantra in mind, the recent book by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/people\/paul-r-litt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul&nbsp;Litt<\/a>&nbsp;(<a href=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Department of History<\/a>&nbsp;and <a href=\"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/canadianstudies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies<\/a>),&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ubcpress.ca\/search\/title_book.asp?BookID=299175488\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>Trudeaumania<\/i><\/a>, has arrived at a particularly timely juncture in Canadian history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1-1024x707.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau smiles as he responds to the press gallery. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\" class=\"wp-image-32544\" width=\"1024\" height=\"707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1-1024x707.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1-200x138.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1-400x276.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1-768x530.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Budget-1400x967-1.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Trudeau smiles as he responds to the press gallery. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Trudeaumania<\/em>, which has been released to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publishersweekly.com\/978-0-7748-3404-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tremendous critical praise<\/a>, is Litt\u2019s examination of the public excitement and enthusiasm that distinguished the rise to power of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in the late 1960s. <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> is a must read for many reasons, but what makes it a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/entertainment\/books\/2016\/11\/20\/new-books-put-trudeaumania-in-fresh-perspective.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">particularly unique analysis is&nbsp;Litt\u2019s<\/a>&nbsp;detailed deconstruction of the influence of the radical and celebrated popular culture of the era on the phenomenon of Trudeaumania. Movements like the civil rights crusade had laid the groundwork for social justice activism. Protests against the Vietnam war were mushrooming. By 1968, the counterculture was in full blossom \u2014 a feisty mix of idealism and hedonism, all set to a rowdy rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll soundtrack. Litt calls it \u201ca carnival of indulgence, defiance, and iconoclasm besieging the bastions of convention,\u201d adding that \u201cAs protest movements and the counterculture merged into a mad torrent, the threat of radicalism loomed large.&#8221; The convergence of this fabled spirit of the sixties with rising nationalist sentiment in Canada set the context for Pierre Trudeau\u2019s rise to power.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose cu-quote cu-component-spacing\">\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>There are two main characters in Trudeaumania \u2014 Canada in the 1960s and the Trudeau it imagined. Litt approaches this pair with the premise that you can\u2019t understand one without understanding the other.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been interested in Canadian nationalism for years and came to see the late 1960s as a formative passage in its history. Smack in the middle was this odd moment when people seemingly went crazy over a novel politician,\u201d Litt elaborates, \u201cWhat was that all about? I wanted to figure out what was going on in Canadian politics in 1968, how Trudeaumania reflected its times, and whether it was more than just a passing fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yardley-Jones-graphic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"567\" height=\"826\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yardley-Jones-graphic.jpg\" alt=\"Hail Trudeau Pierre Power Caricature Poster\" class=\"wp-image-22670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yardley-Jones-graphic.jpg 567w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yardley-Jones-graphic-200x291.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yardley-Jones-graphic-400x583.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 567px) 100vw, 567px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Hail Trudeau Pierre Power caricature poster by John Yardley-Jones.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"national-identity-in-the-swinging-sixties\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">National Identity in the Swinging Sixties<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two main characters in <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> \u2014 Canada in the 1960s and the Trudeau it imagined. Evocative writing captures the colour of the times and the image of a self-realized, culturally-attuned Pierre Trudeau. \u201cCanada unavoidably began the Cold War as a stalwart ally of the U.S. in its crusade to protect the free world from communism, but this sidekick role heightened fears that it had escaped from one empire only to be colonized by another,\u201d Litt explains. \u201cIn the years leading up to the centennial, nationalist sentiment was cresting. Nationalists repeatedly proclaimed that Canada was \u2018coming of age,\u2019 undergoing something akin to an adolescent rite of passage, struggling to emerge as a&nbsp;mature nation.\u201d There were intense debates about foreign ownership of the Canadian economy, American cultural imperialism, and Canadian identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"742\" height=\"825\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Linus.jpg\" alt=\"LPC rally, June 21, 1968. Charles Schulz\u2019s Linus. (Photo by Duncan Cameron, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\" class=\"wp-image-32545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Linus.jpg 742w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Linus-200x222.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Linus-400x445.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 742px) 100vw, 742px\" \/><figcaption><em>LPC rally, June 21, 1968. Charles Schulz\u2019s Linus. (Photo by Duncan Cameron, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The problems that afflicted the United States in the 1960s further encouraged Canadian nationalism. \u201cAs the 1960s wore on, the image of the U.S. suffered from the civil rights movement, its contribution to the spectre of a nuclear Armageddon, ghetto riots, political assassinations, and militarism run amok in Southeast Asia,\u201d Litt avers. \u201cAs the Pearson government\u2019s new social programs rounded out a welfare state more extensive and compassionate than that south of the border, the Americans\u2019 image problems gave Canadian identity theorists the chance to define Canada, in contrast, as a polity distinguished by an innate moral immunity to all of the ills then afflicting the United States.\u201d Positioning Canada as a \u201cPeaceable Kingdom\u201d made it look good compared to an America that was increasingly associated with conflict, militarism, and violence. <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> shows how this identity theory affected contemporary discourse concerning Canada\u2019s character and future. As Litt puts it, \u201cThe Peaceable Kingdom was conceived in schadenfreude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose cu-quote cu-component-spacing\">\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The idea of Canada as the \u201cPeaceable Kingdom\u201d emerged out of nationalists\u2019 efforts to construct an identity befitting an autonomous nation. It was designed to make Canada look good compared to an America which was increasingly associated with conflict, militarism and violence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 id=\"canada-1967\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Canada: 1967<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The centennial year was a critical prelude to Trudeaumania. In 1967, Canadians from all corners of the land became engaged in activities that heightened their sense of national community. These commemorations stressed Canadians\u2019 hundred years of shared history, giving the national community a venerable pedigree. But nations need to have a future as well as a past, and it was here that Expo 67, the world\u2019s fair hosted by Canada that year, made a signal contribution. \u201cIt was futuristic, projecting an image of a nation on the cutting edge of modernity,\u201d Litt maintains, \u201cIt complemented the centennial\u2019s inward-looking unity-and-identity preoccupations with an outward-looking cosmopolitanism.\u201d Best of all, it was a smash hit, winning Canada praise from around the world. Canada, it seemed, had stepped into the world spotlight with a dynamic new image and earned a place of distinction in the international community. It is rare for a nation to affirm its identity and win world-class status in one stroke, Litt argues, but Expo 67 was such an achievement, and it pushed nationalist pride to dizzying heights. \u201cThe next natural step was to look for some means of institutionalizing the high.\u201d Voila: Pierre Trudeau. As one young voter put it, \u201cHe\u2019s the type of man who should follow Expo \u201967 and be a vital part of the new, identifiable Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"752\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Expo.jpg\" alt=\"US Pavilion and Minirail at Expo 67. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\" class=\"wp-image-32548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Expo.jpg 752w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Expo-200x199.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Expo-400x399.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><figcaption><em>US Pavilion and Minirail at Expo 67. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Litt continues: \u201cEven as they were liberating Canada from its colonial past and resisting re-colonization by the United States, Canadian nationalists faced the grave threat of a rising separatist sentiment in Quebec during the 1960s.\u201d Trudeau\u2019s years as a caustic critic of the Duplessis regime in 1950s Quebec made him an anti-nationalist. In the wake of the Quiet Revolution, a new Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois nationalism promoting the province\u2019s government as a French-Canadian nation state was on the rise. By 1967 there was a consensus among Canada\u2019s three leading political parties, based on a \u2018two nations\u2019 view of Canada, that nationalism in Quebec would have to be accommodated by conceding the province some special constitutional status. Then suddenly Trudeau appeared on the scene, challenging that consensus with a principled, logical defence of symmetrical federalism. Ironically, this made him a hero to Canadian nationalists. Not only would he move the nation ahead, but he would also keep it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"707\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1-1024x707.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau greeting supporters at a campaign rally in Montreal, 1968. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\n\" class=\"wp-image-32549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1-1024x707.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1-200x138.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1-400x276.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1-768x530.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Eaton-1400x966-1.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Trudeau greeting supporters at a campaign rally in Montreal, 1968. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"the-medias-role\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Media\u2019s Role<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most voters came to know Trudeau through the media. Thanks to their increasing penetration into daily life \u2014 particularly, the prevalence of television in the family home \u2014 it was easier for Canadians to feel directly engaged in national affairs. Canadians may now have belonged to a \u2018global village,\u2019 as another renowned Canadian and friend of Pierre Trudeau famously articulated, but they were also part of a \u2018national village\u2019 with which they identified strongly. Moreover, as Canadian television producer Richard Nielson wrote at the time, \u201cno medium in history creates the taste for the real-life drama that TV does.\u201d The conditions for a national mania were in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"702\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PET.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau (and images of Trudeau) in 1968 at the Liberal leadership convention. (Photo by Duncan Cameron, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\n\" class=\"wp-image-32551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PET.jpg 640w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PET-200x219.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PET-400x439.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption><em>Trudeau (and images of Trudeau) in 1968 at the Liberal leadership convention.\u00a0(Photo by Duncan Cameron, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Trudeau rose to national prominence in the final weeks of 1967, just as Lester Pearson announced his retirement, launching a Liberal leadership contest. \u201cTrudeau was a great media performer in a variety of ways, especially on television, which had become the primary means by which most Canadians followed politics,\u201d Litt continues, \u201cHe had that certain <em>je ne sais quoi<\/em> that gives someone onscreen presence. But that wasn\u2019t all. He did stunts like sliding down a bannister or staging a pratfall, providing the visual action the medium demanded. All of this helped make him a political star.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many journalists were deeply invested in the nationalist project of seeing Canada come of age as an exemplary modern nation. Identifying Trudeau as an appropriate figurehead for this project, they presented him as a new breed of politician, a swinger in step with the times, \u201ca leader who could personify Canada as they wished it to be,\u201d as Litt puts it. The \u201cmod\u201d style then trendy in the fashion world offered the perfect pop culture mode with which to brand their project. The moral high ground Canadian nationalists staked out for Canada was much the same as that from which sixties radicals critiqued the establishment. Yet most weren\u2019t radicals \u2014 on the contrary, they had a vested interest in the status quo. They channeled the spirit of the sixties to expedite national renewal, but they wanted progressive reform, not revolution. Mod was the perfect aesthetic mode for signaling an urgent but moderate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Buddhist.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau offers the crowd a Buddhist salutation at the 1967 Liberal leadership convention. (Photo by Dick Loek, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University )\n\" class=\"wp-image-32553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Buddhist.jpg 640w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Buddhist-200x190.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Buddhist-400x379.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption><em>Trudeau offers the crowd a Buddhist salutation at the 1967 Liberal leadership convention. (Photo by Dick Loek,\u00a0Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University )<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The media portrayed Trudeau as a youthful, articulate sex symbol who appealed to the spirit of the times by promising change. Unmarried, and thus conceptualized as \u2018free,\u2019 Trudeau, with his comb-over and acne scars, exemplified an emergent \u201cnew masculinity.\u201d Canadians were drawn to Trudeau\u2019s undeniable coolness and charm, and his overt intelligence jibed with the counterculture\u2019s quest for enlightenment. At the same time, Trudeau\u2019s intellect empowered him to practice a new type of politics that would apply, dispassionately, a modern managerial approach to contemporary problems. The late sixties might have been the one moment in Canadian history when being perceived as an intellectual had more positive than negative connotations. \u2018Reason over passion\u2019 was part of Trudeau\u2019s cool image, another way in which he promised to be an agent of national modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Trudeau\u2019s intelligence was part of his sex appeal, it was accompanied by more conventional image-making. The Prime Minister-in-waiting drove a Mercedes convertible and wore a flower in his lapel. <em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em> magazine proclaimed Trudeau an \u201cstory_intro_authoritative judge of wine and women.\u201d \u201cIn the context of the times, Trudeau\u2019s sexiness sent an important signal,\u201d says Litt. \u201cThe sexual revolution led and symbolized the many liberation movements of the sixties. Denoting Trudeau as sexy implied that he was in step with the times\u2014the man to update Canada.\u201d When, late in 1967, Minister of Justice Trudeau liberalized laws affecting divorce, abortion, his image as a hip modernizer was substantiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we are familiar with celebrity politicians, but Pierre Trudeau was Canada\u2019s first experience with the phenomenon. As Trudeaumania snowballed in the early months of 1968, it generated all the ephemera typical of a pop culture fad, including posters, dresses, sweatshirts, and pop songs. When he started his research over a decade ago, Litt didn\u2019t have to look far to find an example\u2014it came from Professor Allan J. Ryan, whose office was just down the hall in the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies. In a previous life as a folk singer, Ryan had a hit in 1968 with his song <em>PM Pierre<\/em>. Other examples of Trudeaumania pop were harder to track down. \u201cIt was fun unearthing it all,\u201d says Litt, \u201cMuch of it was amusing, and some of it was elusive, but I just kept following leads until a full picture emerged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"610\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Carnation.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau admires a carnation at the LPC leadership convention. (By Dick Loek, Clara Thomas Archives, and Special Collections, York University)\n\" class=\"wp-image-32557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Carnation.jpg 640w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Carnation-200x191.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Carnation-400x381.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption><em>Trudeau admires a carnation at the LPC leadership convention. (By Dick Loek, Clara Thomas Archives, and Special Collections, York University)<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the way Litt picked up on the fact that many Canadians were deeply uneasy with the entire process. \u201cThis was the age of McLuhan, and people were debating in earnest the effects of the media in society generally and in politics in particular,\u201d Litt says, \u201cWere they delivering the real goods? Could their representations of people and events be trusted?\u201d Addressing this concern, Trudeau regularly made a point of calling attention to the media\u2019s role as an unreliable messenger between him and his audiences, reassuring them that he was just as skeptical as they were about their means of communication. He would coyly pause before answering a reporter\u2019s question, often responding with a sly grin or wink, letting the audience in on the joke. His intuitive post-modern sensibility dispelled doubts about his image and reassured audiences that he was authentic. \u201cI feel like a Beatle. Not that I have anything against the Beatles, but is this the way to choose a leader?\u201d Trudeau poignantly asked <em>Saturday Night<\/em> magazine in 1968. Comments such as this reassured Canadians that he shared their concerns and was, despite their mutual dependence on the media, a strong character rather than a mere media personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"853\" height=\"715\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yoko.jpg\" alt=\"John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet with Trudeau, December 22, 1969. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\n\" class=\"wp-image-32560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yoko.jpg 853w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yoko-200x168.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yoko-400x335.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Yoko-768x644.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><figcaption><em>John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet with Trudeau, December 22, 1969. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/em><br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose cu-quote cu-component-spacing\">\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>One of the great strengths of Trudeaumania is its dedication to providing the reader with meticulous context. Litt provides a nuanced and objective reconstruction of the phenomenon, demonstrating how Trudeau was portrayed as a youthful, articulate sex symbol who appealed to the spirit of the times with promises of profound change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The nature of modern political campaigning also worked to quiet mediation anxiety. \u201cWhen you think about it, politicians are very much like pop stars when they tour during elections,\u201d observes Litt. \u201cThe live appearance of a figure previously known only through the media proved he was real and linked local communities with the community of nation, again alleviating anxiety about the media\u2019s intermediary role in national politics.\u201d Concerns about the press were part of a more general anxiety about living in a mass society afflicted by the malaise of individual alienation. \u201cHe restores to each of us a sense of individual worth. We are no longer insignificant members of a mob, all running in the same direction because our leaders tell us to,\u201d one journalist claimed. \u201cHe wants . . . to release us from servility to mass machines created by others, from the dominance of self-appointed elites who think they know better than we do what is good for us.\u201d Wow! Trudeau was now the politician-as-panacea, a cure for all the ills of modernity. \u201cIn a sense,\u201d another journalist explained, \u201che has been adopted by a society unhappy with grey corporatism and worried about the all-embracing bureaucracy, and puzzled if not fearful over the coming dehumanized, technological culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide-1024x341.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeaumania Book Cover\" class=\"wp-image-32563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide-200x67.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide-400x133.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide-768x256.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Trudeau-Wide.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"trudeaumania-2-0\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Trudeaumania 2.0?<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Through meticulous research and revealing insights, <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> evokes one of the most fascinating eras in Canadian history and the iconic personality to which it gave rise. Does it also have some functionality as a tool to understand Canada\u2019s contemporary political reality? Litt cautions that the late sixties were \u201ca very particular era in which the factors in play were distinctive and interacted in different ways.\u201d For this reason, applying the term Trudeaumania to Justin\u2019s rise to power is misleading. The circumstances in which they came to power were unique. Pierre Elliott Trudeau had been in federal politics for less than two-and-a-half years and a cabinet minister for less than a year when he announced his candidacy for the Liberal leadership. Six weeks later he was prime minister, and two-and-a-half months after that he won a majority government. He was front and centre in political coverage and a clear favourite throughout his rise to power. In 2015, Justin, in contrast, had been a prominent figure in the Liberal party for years and its leader for over two years. The focus of the 2015 election was initially more on the other leaders and expectations of him were relatively limited. Moreover, the personalities of father and son seem quite distinct. Pierre was famously aloof, even arrogant, while Justin likes to mingle and showboat the common touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"729\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1-1024x729.jpg\" alt=\"OTTAWA, CANADA - FEB 8, 2016: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces all Canadian airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will cease by Feb. 22, 2016. Editorial credit: Art Babych \/ Shutterstock.com\" class=\"wp-image-32566\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1-1024x729.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1-200x142.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1-400x285.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/shutterstock_373957927-1400x996-1.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>OTTAWA, CANADA &#8211; FEB 8, 2016: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces all Canadian airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will cease by Feb. 22, 2016. Editorial credit: Art Babych \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>People are instinctively curious about historical precedents for present-day phenomena, so it is inevitable that 1968 and 2015 will be mined for similarities. Litt concedes that \u201cMany of the same influences were at work\u2014the role of the media in sustaining the nation, the politics of image, the invasion of politics by features of popular culture such as fashion and celebrity, the notion of Canada as a kinder, gentler America, and a politician whose success derived from all of these factors. So 1968 is in many ways recognizable to us today.\u201d Like his father, Justin is an adept performer in the media, even though the media complex is vastly different today. He too is seen as a sex symbol. Both father and son had trendy images and won elections by appearing as agents of change when the electorate was impatient for change. Both were dismissed as dilettantes yet revealed an underlying discipline, determination and work ethic. The relevance of history is further suggested by considering the likelihood of Justin Trudeau becoming prime minister if his father had not preceded him in that office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/posters.jpg\" alt=\"Trudeau (and images of Trudeau) greet a crowd.\n\" class=\"wp-image-32569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/posters.jpg 640w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/posters-200x159.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/posters-400x318.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption>Trudeau (and images of Trudeau) greet a crowd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Published in October 2016, <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> has a lot to say about the power of celebrity in electoral politics, a topic of some interest since last fall\u2019s U.S. presidential election. More generally it offers insights into factors that characterize politics in a modern mass-mediated democracy over the long term. Litt hopes his book will also enhance our understanding of Canadian nationalism, in particular how a persistent Canadian identity myth was forged in the unique circumstances of the sixties. In 2017, we are celebrating Canada\u2019s 150<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, an anniversary that recalls Canada\u2019s centennial celebrations in 1967. <em>Trudeaumania <\/em>suggests that events fifty years ago could be interpreted as the birth of modern Canada. \u201cYou could say that Canada\u2019s formative sixties are embodied in our current choice of a prime minister,\u201d Litt adds, \u201cWhen Justin Trudeau said \u2018Canada is back,\u2019 it was his father\u2019s Canada that he was invoking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Justice-Will-Triumph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"698\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Justice-Will-Triumph.jpg\" alt=\"Two Trudeau supporters pose on Yonge Street in Downtown Toronto in their &quot;Justice Will Triumph&quot; sweatshirts, 1968. (Photo by Frank Lennon, Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)\" class=\"wp-image-22671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Justice-Will-Triumph.jpg 640w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Justice-Will-Triumph-200x218.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Justice-Will-Triumph-400x436.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Two Trudeau supporters pose on Yonge Street in Downtown Toronto in their &#8220;Justice Will Triumph&#8221; sweatshirts, 1968. (Photo by Frank Lennon,&nbsp;Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Trudeaumania<\/em> is a vital read for anyone interested in Canada past or present. This article can only provide some tantalizing glimpses of its fascinating period detail. Nevertheless, it is impossible to resist ending this piece where <em>Trudeaumania<\/em> the book begins \u2014 with the evocative lyrics of <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/canadianstudies\/people\/ryan-allan-j\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Allan Ryan&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/http-server.carleton.ca\/~aryan\/lyrics.html#pierre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>PM Pierre<\/em><\/a>:<br>\n(<a href=\"http:\/\/http-server.carleton.ca\/~aryan\/music\/songs\/11%20PM%20Pierre%20(single).mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">listen here<\/a>&nbsp;MP3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>There\u2019s a new infatuation that\u2019s been sweepin\u2019 the nation<\/em><br>\n<em> Shakin\u2019 the roots in the ground<\/em><br>\n<em> Of an old generation, a new inspiration<\/em><br>\n<em> Takin\u2019 a new look around<\/em><br>\n<em> But he\u2019s quickly disarming and utterly charming<\/em><br>\n<em> Quite enough to make you let down your hair<\/em><br>\n<em> In a Society Just, a society must<\/em><br>\n<em> Check out PM Pierre<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>PM Pierre, with the ladies, racin\u2019 a Mercedes<\/em><br>\n<em> Pierre, in the money, find him with a bunny<\/em><br>\n<em> Pierre, a little brighter than the northern lights<\/em><br>\n<em> He oughta add a lotta colour to the Ottawa nights<\/em><br>\n<em> Charismatic and dynamic with a trans-Atlantic flare<\/em><br>\n<em> Regardez PM Pierre<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014 PM Pierre by Professor Allan J. Ryan (Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(<a href=\"http:\/\/http-server.carleton.ca\/~aryan\/music\/songs\/11%20PM%20Pierre%20(single).mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">listen here<\/a>&nbsp;MP3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"813\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PM-Pierre.jpg\" alt=\"Professor Allan Ryan\u2019s PM Pierre.\n\" class=\"wp-image-32574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PM-Pierre.jpg 650w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PM-Pierre-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/PM-Pierre-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><figcaption><em>Professor Allan Ryan\u2019s PM Pierre.<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Trudeaumania<\/em> is published by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ubcpress.ca\/search\/title_book.asp?BookID=299175488\">University of British Columbia Press<\/a> and can be found at most major book dealers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"up-next-for-litt\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Up Next for Litt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Professor Litt\u2019s next project, \u201cMotoring into Upper Canada,\u201d is a history of the Ontario heritage establishment in the 1950s and 1960s that focuses on the interface of ambitious technocracy and unruly collective memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-medium wp-image-22852\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01-400x600.jpg\" alt=\"professor Paul Litt\" class=\"wp-image-22852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/L46JI-3BRHWT4_littp_01.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption>Professor Paul Litt<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2015, Canadians reacquainted themselves with the expression \u201cTrudeaumania.\u201d After ten years of Conservative Party rule under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the election of the Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau as the nation\u2019s new Prime Minister was celebrated by many as an overdue change for a country in need of a progressive makeover. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[613,585,575],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-22580","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-for-launch-research","cu_story_type-history","cu_story_type-research"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/22580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/22580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32578,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/22580\/revisions\/32578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=22580"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=22580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}