Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC (; 16 June 1874 – 5 August 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from 10 July 1920 to 29 December 1921; and from 29 June 1926 to 25 September 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding in Manitoba. Both of his terms of office were brief. Meighen later served for a decade in the Senate of Canada, and failed in a political comeback attempt in 1941–42, after which he returned to the practice of law. Larry A. Glassford, a professor of education at the University of Windsor, concluded, "On any list of Canadian prime ministers ranked according to their achievements while in office, Arthur Meighen would not place very high."
Early life
Arthur Meighen was born on a farm near Anderson, Perth County, Ontario, to Joseph Meighen and Mary Jane Bell. He was the only farmboy ever to become prime minister (although others made it into the higher circles). He attended primary school at Blanshard public school in Anderson, where, in addition to being the grandson of the village's first schoolmaster, he was an exemplary student. In 1892, during his final high school year at St. Marys Collegiate Institute, which later became North Ward Public School in St. Marys (now known as Arthur Meighen Public School) Meighen was elected secretary of the literary society and was an expert debater in the school debating society in an era when debating was in high repute. He took first class honours in mathematics, English, and Latin.
