John Turner

(b. Richmond, England, 7 Jun. 1929) Canadian; Prime Minister 1984 Turner came to Canada in 1932 and was educated in Ontario schools. After studying at the University of British Columbia, he won a Rhodes scholarship and read political science and law at Oxford. He then practised law in Britain and was called to the English bar, and later the bars of Quebec and Ontario, being made a QC in 1968. He entered the Canadian House of Commons in 1962 and was a junior minister in Lester Pearson's government and later Attorney-General and Finance Minister under Pierre Trudeau, but left the Trudeau administration in 1975 after a disagreement with the Prime Minister. Subsequently, Turner practised as a corporate lawyer resident in Toronto, avoiding public politics but retaining close personal ties with prominent Liberals.

When Trudeau retired Turner succeeded him as leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister on 30 June 1984. He inherited a party bereft of vigour and initiative after twenty-one years in office. Trudeau had neglected party organization, preferring to manage political affairs with the aid of a small group of advisers. Candidates had not been chosen for many ridings when Turner called the election, the party's finances were low, and it had no prepared electoral strategy and few new policies upon which to campaign. Twenty-three of the twenty-nine members of Turner's Cabinet were drawn from Trudeau's, which made it difficult for the new Prime Minister to be seen as inaugurating political change. Alleged abuse of patronage by the Liberals emerged as a leading issue during the election campaign, right up to polling day, 4 September 1984. Turner had promised Trudeau that he would appoint seventeen Liberal MPs who were not standing for re-election to posts on government boards, the judicial bench, or the nominated Senate. Large numbers of voters were outraged by these appointments, which Turner found difficult to justify at the hustings. It was widely believed that Trudeau, after more than fifteen years in office, had overstayed and overused his powers as Prime Minister. The Liberals went down to a crushing defeat in the 1984 election, which transformed the recent electoral patterns of Canadian politics.

Turner resigned office on 17 September, having led an administration that lasted for only eighty days, one of the shortest terms in Canadian history. He remained as party leader until 1990, and did not run in the 1993 general election.

Turner, John Wesley (1833-1899) U.S. soldier and businessman. Born in Saratoga County, New York, John Wesley Turner graduated from West Point in 1855 as a second lieutenant in the field artillery. He spent the first two years of the Civil War as a staff officer for Maj. Gens. David Hunter and Benjamin Butler, until Maj. Gen. Quincy Gilmore made Turner chief of staff and chief of artillery for the Department of the South. After helping force the evacuation of Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor (1863), Turner accompanied Gilmore to join the Army of the James. Turner ably commanded a division during the Bermuda Hundred campaign and the early months of the siege of Petersburg before falling deathly ill (1864-65). When he recovered in early 1865 he took command of the “Wild Cat” Division from West Virginia and Ohio. They won special notice for taking Fort Gregg, the key to the Petersburg defenses on April 2, and then doggedly pursued the fleeing Confederates to help force the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Turner was breveted a major general for his accomplishments. After the war he administered Richmond, earning considerable resentment there by preventing leading secessionists from holding municipal office. After the war he served as purchasing and depot commissary in St. Louis until he left the army in 1871. He managed companies, directed banks, and served as street commissioner in that city before he died.

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Turner, John Napier, 1929–, Canadian prime minister (1984). Born in England, he emigrated to Ontario with his Canadian-born mother in 1932. Trained as a lawyer, he entered the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1962. He subsequently served as head of several ministries, notably as minister of justice (1968–72) and minister of finance (1972–75). Upon the resignation of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1984, he became leader of the Liberal party. He became prime minister on June 30 and dissolved Parliament shortly thereafter. In the September elections the Liberal party was soundly defeated. Turner remained Liberal party leader until 1990.

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