Political legend Danny Williams made Newfoundland and Labrador history on this date in 2007 with the re-election of he and his party with a large majority mandate and almost 70 percent of the popular vote. In doing so, Williams increased his party’s representation in the House of Assembly by nine seats.By the time he left office in 2010, Williams had served nearly a decade in Newfoundland and Labrador’s top political job.  A Rhodes scholar and leading business person in his home province, he first came to power in 2001. During his terms as Premier he famously engaged in public battles first with Prime Minister Paul Martin and then -- after a change in government in Ottawa -- with his fellow Conservative, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  Despite this, or maybe because of it, polls consistently showed he and his government were extremely popular with voters, regardless of the controversies of the day.Coming from a province that has produced political legends such as John Crosbie, Joey Smallwood, Brian Tobin and others, Williams, too, became known across Canada.  The Williams era in Newfoundland politics was certainly an interesting one.[caption id="attachment_103305" align="alignleft" width="390"] Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams speaks in Calgary, in this Dec. 3, 2009 photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh[/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.