Hi everybody: Many people asked if there is similar Canadian research. As far as I know, there is only one small-scale equivalent. I wrote about it, and included a link, here: https://twitter.com/dgardner/status/1506248063928647689
Dan, this is fun but I would like to know how many people in our own country know who were the leaders of the Conservative Party between 1935 and 1957. I am guessing a few will know John Diefenbaker but none will know George Drew.
There was one small-scale replication done in Canada, that I'm aware of. It used prime ministers. It found similar effects but the levels of recall were -- no surprise -- much worse. I'll try to dig it up later.
Thanks very much. For my own amusement I have a list of Conservative leaders from RB Bennett to Dief the Chief. My list from 35-57 includes nine gentlemen. Only Bennett and Meighen were PM until Dief. Cheers.
I talk about Drew in a book that I have coming out this fall. Might give him a slight second wind. You can blame Drew's family for tossing him down the memory hole: they have greatly limited historians' access to Drew's archival records because of a scandal that I talk about in the book.
Hey, Mark. I look forward to your book. I am absorbing as much as I can on George Alexander Drew and even made a pilgrimage to his memorial in the Guelph Cemetery. Families can be troublesome. Cheers.
He's in my book as the buddy of Globe and Mail founder George McCullagh (whose widow became Mrs. Drew later in life, and was sued by his kids). I did a chapter on Drew and the Hong Kong cover-up in my book on wartime censorship called, rather unimaginatively, The Fog of War. Since you're a Drew fan (and I understand why), I'll tell that there are special restrictions on some of his papers because of the (still unproven) claim/issue of Drew setting up a special OPP unit to spy on his political enemies, and, supposedly, passing some dirt on to McCullagh that showed up in The Globe and Mail.
George McCullagh! This is terrific. I knew his son Bob who was a character. George committed suicide at home now the Shouldice Clinic. Did you say Mrs. Drew was sued by McCullagh's kids? Families!
Took me 12 years. Phyllis McCullagh burned his papers after she got them back from John Saywell. Made my life a lot harder, but it also kept a couple of other people from finishing their bios. Drew's kids thought Phyllis was burning through their inheritance.
For opposition leaders who did not become PM, how good do you think the results would be even for recent ones? I’m not convinced recall Scheer, Mulcair or Ignatieff would be over 50%.
Okay, Marc where does that lead us? I was really taking my lead from Dan about memory not the prospects for governing let alone governing well. Back to you.
Sorry I see now how my comment wasn’t clearly written! Yes I meant the results in a survey of recall — I think becoming PM obviously enough gives a big boost, but I was surprised to see for example that nobody remembers Kim Campbell and that the numbers were not great even for Mulroney (who was PM for a long time and did memorable things!) Given that, I agree with you that long-ago (and I’d say even recent) opposition leaders must be forgotten.
Holy Guacamole. There is no harm in forgetting everyone of them unless you are looking for lessons with nothing to apply said lessons to. Do you know the recent book of essays about Louis St. Laurent? His grand daughter was having lunch with Geoffrey Pearson one day when Geoffrey stated he spent 50% of his time keeping his father's memory alive in the public consciousness. Hence the book.
Hi everybody: Many people asked if there is similar Canadian research. As far as I know, there is only one small-scale equivalent. I wrote about it, and included a link, here: https://twitter.com/dgardner/status/1506248063928647689
Dan, this is fun but I would like to know how many people in our own country know who were the leaders of the Conservative Party between 1935 and 1957. I am guessing a few will know John Diefenbaker but none will know George Drew.
There was one small-scale replication done in Canada, that I'm aware of. It used prime ministers. It found similar effects but the levels of recall were -- no surprise -- much worse. I'll try to dig it up later.
Thanks very much. For my own amusement I have a list of Conservative leaders from RB Bennett to Dief the Chief. My list from 35-57 includes nine gentlemen. Only Bennett and Meighen were PM until Dief. Cheers.
I talk about Drew in a book that I have coming out this fall. Might give him a slight second wind. You can blame Drew's family for tossing him down the memory hole: they have greatly limited historians' access to Drew's archival records because of a scandal that I talk about in the book.
Hey, Mark. I look forward to your book. I am absorbing as much as I can on George Alexander Drew and even made a pilgrimage to his memorial in the Guelph Cemetery. Families can be troublesome. Cheers.
He's in my book as the buddy of Globe and Mail founder George McCullagh (whose widow became Mrs. Drew later in life, and was sued by his kids). I did a chapter on Drew and the Hong Kong cover-up in my book on wartime censorship called, rather unimaginatively, The Fog of War. Since you're a Drew fan (and I understand why), I'll tell that there are special restrictions on some of his papers because of the (still unproven) claim/issue of Drew setting up a special OPP unit to spy on his political enemies, and, supposedly, passing some dirt on to McCullagh that showed up in The Globe and Mail.
George McCullagh! This is terrific. I knew his son Bob who was a character. George committed suicide at home now the Shouldice Clinic. Did you say Mrs. Drew was sued by McCullagh's kids? Families!
Took me 12 years. Phyllis McCullagh burned his papers after she got them back from John Saywell. Made my life a lot harder, but it also kept a couple of other people from finishing their bios. Drew's kids thought Phyllis was burning through their inheritance.
She married George then George! How did she do this? These guys were big players. Burning papers, damn.
For opposition leaders who did not become PM, how good do you think the results would be even for recent ones? I’m not convinced recall Scheer, Mulcair or Ignatieff would be over 50%.
Okay, Marc where does that lead us? I was really taking my lead from Dan about memory not the prospects for governing let alone governing well. Back to you.
I wrote my comment before seeing the Canadian study — revise that 50% way down!
Woops. You mean the recall of recent oppo leaders, right?
Sure, for most of us it is not worth the effort it is just that some of us like detail.
Sorry I see now how my comment wasn’t clearly written! Yes I meant the results in a survey of recall — I think becoming PM obviously enough gives a big boost, but I was surprised to see for example that nobody remembers Kim Campbell and that the numbers were not great even for Mulroney (who was PM for a long time and did memorable things!) Given that, I agree with you that long-ago (and I’d say even recent) opposition leaders must be forgotten.
Holy Guacamole. There is no harm in forgetting everyone of them unless you are looking for lessons with nothing to apply said lessons to. Do you know the recent book of essays about Louis St. Laurent? His grand daughter was having lunch with Geoffrey Pearson one day when Geoffrey stated he spent 50% of his time keeping his father's memory alive in the public consciousness. Hence the book.
Love the conclusion.