It was a big day in the life and career of former Prime Minister Arthur Meighen on this date in 1932.  He answered his party’s call and entered the Senate and, on the same day, he became a member of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s cabinet, as Minister Without Portfolio. Long considered one of the great parliamentary speakers of his generation, Meighen now brought his skills in debate into the Red Chamber. Membership in the Senate Press Gallery is said to have increased more than half upon Meighen’s entering the upper chamber as so many reporters wanted to see and hear his addresses and interventions. The former Prime Minister Meighen would serve a decade in the Senate. He became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate upon the defeat of the Bennett Tories in 1935. It is interesting to note that, decades later, Meighen’s grandson Michael would also enter the Senate and serve with distinction there. You can read Arthur Meighen’s maiden address in the Red Chamber at this link. caption id="attachment_566304" align="alignleft" width="196" Portrait of Rt. Hon. Arthur Meighen/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.