50 Years of Canadian and American Leadership. Again.

We were asked to repost this and we are happy to do so. (One of the more clever posts from Tobias, our Head of Research and Political History). Enjoy.

Have you ever looked at the last 50 years of leadership in the United States and Canada and noted the similarities? There have been Conservative and Liberal trends on both sides of the border, which seemed to coincide with each other almost as if planned or destined.



Lets begin:

From 1948 to 1953
St. Laurent and Truman. Both Liberals. Both share an 'A, U, R, N', and 'T' in their names.

Coincidence? we say not.

From 1957 to 1960
Eisnehower and Diefenbaker. Both Conservatives. Both had 4 syllables. Both end in "ER".

Wait. It gets better.

From 1963 to 1968
Pearson and Johnson. Both Liberals. Both names had two syllables. Both end in 'SON'.

From 1968 to 1984
Seemingly - no similarities during the Trudeau era, in part due to the long Trudeau Liberal tenure in the face of the Conservative Nixon/Ford era in the USA. It was no secret Nixon hated Trudeau and with good reason. Their names had very little in common and Nixon did not like bucking trends... But wait. During this period and for a short time during 1979 and 1980, the trend realigns itself to see Clark and Carter take office. Both start with a 'C'. Both share and ‘A’ and an ‘R’.

All is right with the world again.

From 1984 to to 1992
Reagan and Mulroney. Both Conservatives. Remember the disturbing rendition of "When Irish eyes are smiling..." ?.
Lets leave it at that.

From 1993 to 2000
Chretien and Clinton. Both Liberals. Both start with a 'C' and end with an 'N' and share an 'I'.



What does it all mean?

Aside from having nothing to do after reading my Saturday morning paper and needing some content to post, maybe nothing. But we should watch carefully to see who takes office after Bush’s all but certain defeat in 2008 and look for clues in the name. If it sounds anything like Dryden, Ignatieff or Dion, then we have found the Next Face of the Liberal party of Canada.

Or maybe...Rae and Gore? Both Liberals (kinda), Share an 'R', share and 'E', one syllable, both like blue ties, both jesture with their left hands.

Hmmmmmm...