John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald GCB KCMG PC PC QC (11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was a Canadian politician and Father of Confederation who was the first Prime Minister of Canada (1867–1873, 1878–1891). The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career which spanned almost half a century. He drank heavily, and in 1873 was voted out during the Pacific Scandal, in which his party took bribes from businessmen seeking the contract to build the Pacific Railway. Macdonald's greatest achievements were building and guiding a successful national government for the new Dominion, using patronage to forge a strong Conservative Party, promoting the protective tariff of the National Policy, and building the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway. Economic growth was slow during his years in office, as Canada verged on stagnation; many residents migrated to the fast-growing United States. He fought to block provincial efforts to take power back from Ottawa. His most controversial move was to approve the execution of Métis leader Louis Riel for treason in 1885; it permanently alienated the Francophones who saw themselves humiliated.

John A. Mirisch

John A. Mirisch is an American movie studio executive and politician. He served as the Mayor of Beverly Hills, California from 2013 to 2014.

Early life

John A. Mirisch grew up in Beverly Hills. He has a brother, Richard Mirisch, and a sister, Amanda Goldberg. His grandfather, Harold Mirisch, alongside his great-uncles Walter Mirisch (born 1921) and Marvin Mirisch (1918-2002), founded the Mirisch Company in 1957. He attended Hawthorne Elementary and Beverly Hills High School. He graduated from Yale University magna cum laude in 1985.

Career

Mirisch started his career at 20th Century Fox. He later worked as Managing Director of the Austrian office of United International Pictures, following by the Swedish office. He served on the Boards of the Austrian and Swedish Film Distributors' Associations and the Swedish Academy Awards Selection Committee. He currently works as an executive at Paramount Pictures.

Mirisch was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in 2009. As councilor, he opposed plans to annex Holmby Hills, Los Angeles into the city of Beverly Hills. He served as Vice Mayor of Beverly Hills in 2012, and became Mayor in 2013. During the campaign, he was subject to a smear campaign, with slanderous e-mails and robocalls accusing him of being anti-Persian and anti-Semitic. The Beverly Hills Weekly, which endorsed him, compared his run to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Mirisch

Mirisch is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also