Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien

Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien is the second volume of Lawrence Martin's two-part biography of Jean Chrétien. It covers Chrétien's career as a politician and eventually, as Prime Minister of Canada.[1]

Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien
AuthorLawrence Martin
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
SubjectJean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada
GenreBiography
PublisherPenguin Group (Canada)
Publication date
2003
ISBN0-670-04310-9
Preceded byJean Chrétien: The Will to Win 

Summary edit

The biography begins with a preface on Chrétien's troubled childhood, and how it would lead to his rebellious instincts later. Martin paints Chrétien as a character with great disdain for aristocracy and authority in general; throughout Chrétien's career, he maintained such popularity because of his human flaws and his connection with the ordinary people. Chrétien is also depicted as an autocratic leader, not tolerant of criticism. According to Martin, this is because of the enormous odds Chrétien overcame in order to become prime minister, so he will not hardly relinquish power. Martin goes into depth about critical events in Chrétien's decade-long term as prime minister, including the 1995 Quebec referendum, the Shawinigate scandal, his power struggle with Paul Martin, and the Iraq War. All in all, Lawrence Martin's view of Chrétien is sympathetic, but not uncritical.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Martin, Lawrence (2003). Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien. Toronto: Penguin Group (Canada). ISBN 0-670-04310-9.
  2. ^ Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chretien [Hardcover]. ASIN 0670043109.