Martin Brian Mulroney (born 1939) revolutionized Canadian politics, leading his Conservative party to its first consecutive election victories (1984, 1988) since early in the 20th century and breaking the Liberal stranglehold on the province of Quebec. As prime minister of Canada, he was responsible for a major Canada-U.S. free trade agreement and for sweeping proposals to change the national constitution.

Martin Brian Mulroney was born March 20, 1939, at Baie Comeau, Quebec, a town created by Colonel Robert McCormick of the Chicago Tribune to supply his papers with newsprint. Mulroney's father, Ben an electrician and later a foreman in the McCormick paper mill, was one of the town's pioneers in the 1930s. Ben Mulroney and his wife, Irene, were descended from Irish immigrants to Canada. Brian was the eldest son of their six children and the third child born. Ben had big dreams for his family, and Brian had all of his...