Lester Bowles Pearson played an important role in Canadian history. He was Canada's prime minister, politician and professor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Pearson was born on April 23, 1987 in Newtonbrook, Ontario. He was the son of a Methodist parson. He spent his childhood moving from one parsonage to another before enrolling at the University of Toronto. He first enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during the First World War. In 1915 he was shipped to Greece to join the Allied armies fighting the Bulgarians. After 2 years he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in England. His military career ended when he was hit by a London bus and was left an invalid at home. In 1919 he graduated from the University of Toronto, but was undecided about a career. He tried law and economics, won a scholarship to Oxford and was hired by the University of Toronto to teach history. He married and soon had children. Finding a professor's salary insufficient, he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs (now Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development). From 1935 to 1941, Pearson was sent to London as first secretary of the Canadian High Commission. In 1942 he was sent to Washington as second in command at the Canadian legation. From 1945 to 1947 he was appointed Canadian ambassador to the United States. Lester Bowles Pearson was one of the greatest prime ministers who rebuilt the Liberal party, created new plans and systems as prime minister and played an important role during the Suez crisis. Pearson held many different positions in government which made him significant to Canadian history. In September 1946, Lester was recalled to Canada by Prime Minister Mackenzie King to make him deputy minister of foreign affairs. He promoted closer political and economic relations between Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. His work led to Canada joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. In September 1948 he became minister of foreign affairs and represented Algoma East, Ontario, in the House of Commons. He led Canada in the Korean War and in 1952 was president of the United Nations General Assembly. As president, he tried to resolve the Korean War. In 1956, Pearson and St-Laurent were accused of failing to support Britain. The Liberals were defeated and St-Laurent resigned as leader. In January 1958, Pearson won against Paul Martin Sr. to become party leader. The Liberals faced a minority Conservative government led by John Diefenbaker. In his first act as opposition leader, Pearson challenged Diefenbaker to resign and make him leader. In the general election the Liberals were reduced to 49 of 265 seats. Pearson then began the task of rebuilding the Liberal Party. He had the assistance of MPs such as Paul Martin and JW Pickersgill and party figures such as Walter Gordon, Mitchell Sharp and Maurice Lamontagne. He re-established the Liberals as the national party. In 1962 a general election was held and Pearson brought the party's total to 100 seats. In 1963 the Diefenbaker government collapsed over the issue of nuclear weapons. In the subsequent election, the Liberals won 128 seats and Pearson became Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, Pearson achieved many successes, which made him one of the greatest in history. He took office on April 22, 1963. In 1964, Parliament turned to debate over the flag. On February 15, 1965, the new flag of Canada was adopted. In the same year there was talk of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). It passed the House of Commons on 29 March 1965. It was passed by.