Canada: The Sober Swinger

I know I'm going to get blamed for not delivering a brand-new Canada within six months—but I've got four years to do it.

—Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968

When Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada nearly two years ago, he seemed just the man to lead his divided nation into a new age. He was a brilliant teacher of law, a respected liberal reformer, a trendy bachelor. Even in the U.S., which usually pays little more attention to Canadian politics than to the Albanian economy, Trudeau's Gallic glamour had its...