Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau received a heartfelt thank-you letter from rookie American President Ronald Reagan on this date in 1981. The communication from the White House came after Trudeau and Canada had hosted the G-7 Summit, the first time our nation had done so.
“You did a truly remarkable job in the preparations and chairmanship of the Ottawa Summit,” Reagan wrote. “Largely due to your personal efforts and those of your many countrymen, this Summit was a resounding success, and we all emerged with a renewed sense of common purpose and perspective. “
“Your idea of holding the Summit at Chateau Montebello was particularly imaginative,” President Reagan continued. “That beautiful setting in the Quebec countryside provided all the incentive and informality we needed for these important conversations. Much that we achieved is a tribute to you personally. On behalf of all members of the U.S. delegation, let me extend to you our warmest appreciation.”
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.