It was on this date in 1946 that Second World War British Field Marshall and hero Viscount Alexander became our Governor General, one of the most fascinating persons to have ever held this crucial Canadian post. He was appointed as Governor General of Canada by King George VI on the recommendation of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.Viscount Alexander went on to serve six years at Rideau Hall and was to travel more than 300,000 kilometres, seeing Canada and getting to know Canadians where they lived from coast-to-coast-to-coast.Though his five-year term was extended, he departed Rideau Hall in 1952 at the personal request of Sir Winston Churchill, who wanted Alexander in his cabinet as Minister of Defence. The Governor General of Canada’s official website has an excellent biography of Governor General Alexander.[caption id="attachment_550509" align="aligncenter" width="440"]
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, Governor General of Canada 1946–52[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, Governor General of Canada 1946–52[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.