It was on this day in 1949 that one of our greatest Prime Ministers -- the Rt. Hon. Louis St. Laurent -- won the largest majority government (up until that time) in his first national electoral test as PM and party leader. Mr. St. Laurent and his party won a commanding 191 seats and received almost exactly 50 per cent of the popular vote -- the latter a rare accomplishment in our national politics, then and now. I have two favourite stories from the great man's life as PM. One involves an assistant of his who met his PM boss outside of the office, at church in Ottawa one Sunday. The assistant took his young son over to meet his boss and PM. Upon being introduced to the young boy PM St. Laurent shook the boy's hand and said "I work in the same office as your father." The second is in the same vein. On his very first day as Prime Minister, Mr. St. Laurent -- no surprise! -- worked late into the evening. On departing for home from the East Block, he reached the elevator to discover that the elevator attendant was still on duty, despite the lateness of the hour. Mr. St. Laurent asked why the man was still at the ready and learned that his instructions under Mackenzie King were that he could not go home until the PM left for the night. So, Mr. St. Laurent put an end to that, announcing to the shocked elevator attendant that even the Prime Minister of Canada could walk down a flight or two of stairs! Uncle Louis would serve as Prime Minister until 1967, after being returned by Canadians with another majority mandate in 1953. His accomplishments are legion and include: nominating the first Canadian, Vincent Massey, to serve as Governor General; completing the Trans-Canada Highway; Canada’s leadership role in the founding of NATO; presiding over a booming economy; and bringing Newfoundland into Confederation. Long ignored by most historians, the tide appears to be changing for Mr. St. Laurent. A distinguished professor from Ryerson University, Patrice Dutil, recently organized an impressive academic conference where experts discussed St. Laurent at long last. Dutil edited the papers delivered at this conference and presents them in his new book, The Unexpected Louis St. Laurent. It has quickly become a must-read for anyone examining the St. Laurent era. Canadians are greatly in debt to Professor Dutil for his scholarship regarding our 12^thPrime Minister. caption id="attachment_537327" align="alignleft" width="383" Louis St. Laurent/caption Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.