Camelot and Canada: Canadian-American Relations in the Kennedy Era

In 1958 Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts proclaimed at the University of New Brunswick that "Canada and the United States have carefully maintained the good fences that help make them good neighbours." He could not have foreseen that his presidency would be marked not just by some of the tensest moments of the Cold War but also by the most contentious moments in the Canadian-American relationship. Indeed, the 1963 Canadian federal election was marked by charges that the US government had engineered a plot to oust John Diefenbaker, Canada's nationalist prime minister. Camelot and Canada explores political, economic, and military elements in Canada-US relations in the early 1960s. Asa McKercher challenges the prevailing view that US foreign policymakers, including President Kennedy, were imperious in their conduct toward Canada. Rather, he shows that the period continued to be marked by the special diplomatic relationship that characterized the early postwar years. Even as Diefenbaker's government pursued distinct foreign and economic policies, American officials acknowledged that Canadian objectives legitimately differed from their own and adjusted their policies accordingly. Moreover, for all its bluster, Ottawa rarely moved without weighing the impact that its initiatives might have on Washington. At the same time, McKercher illustrates that there were significant strains on the bilateral relationship, which occurred as a result of mounting doubts in Canada about US leadership in the Cold War, growing Canadian nationalism, and Canadian concern over their country's close economic, military, and cultural ties with the United States. While personal clashes between the two leaders have become mythologized by historians and the public alike, the special relationship between their governments continued to function.

About the Author :
Asa McKercher is L.R. Wilson Assistant Professor of History at McMaster University.

Review :
"[E]xemplary....McKercher's important study reframes our understanding of the most contentious moments in the Canadian-American relationship, moving away from simple personal clashes to consider genuine policy differences with domestic political implications. Judiciously argued, thoroughly researched, and skillfully written, Camelot and Canada is indispensable to historians of Canadian-American relations during the Cold War."--Benjamin P. Greene, The Journal of American History "McKercher makes an important, and refreshing, contribution to the scholarship on the Canadian-American relationship by challenging the long-held assertion by Canadian historians that the relatively poor state of relations between the two countries was the fault of the Kennedy administration....Camelot and Canada is a meticulously researched and well-written interpretation of an important episode in Canadian-American relations. It should be required reading for any scholar of Canadian and American political history and foreign policy."--Michael Chiarella, H-FedHist "While not overlooking Kennedy's and Diefenbaker's personality flaws and specific disagreements, McKercher paints a more balanced and authoritative portrait of the two leaders and their relationship than any historian to date..."--The Northern Mariner "Recommended."--CHOICE "Asa McKercher makes an important contribution to the literature on United States-Canada relations by contradicting the widespread assertion by many if not most Canadian observers that the poor relations between the two countries in the early 1960s was the fault of arrogant American government officials generally and John F. Kennedy in particular."--Canadian Foreign Policy Journal "McKercher's book is a major contribution and a major repudiation of the existing scholarship on the relationship between Canada 13th prime minister and America's 35th president...Camelot and Canada's strength is in grounding the famous personal controversies most books dwell on...in the behind-the-scenes events that actually drove decision-making."--Maclean's Magazine "Balanced and filled with insight, Asa McKercher's account of the foreign policy relationship between Kennedy and Diefenbaker, and between Kennedy and Pearson, is carefully supported by archival research. The most complete treatment yet of this crucial interval of Canada-U.S. relations, this study--gracefully written--is essential reading for every student of international history and of foreign policy."--Charles Doran, author of Forgotten Partnership: U.S.-Canada Relations Today "In excellent prose and thoughtful analysis, Asa McKercher moves beyond the controversial personalities of John Diefenbaker and John Kennedy and explains the fundamental causes of differences between Canada and the United States in the early 1960s. McKercher has made an exceptional contribution to our understanding of why the United States at the height of its power was at the mercy of decisions made by others, not least its increasingly nationalist and irritating northern neighbor. Camelot and Canada is international history at its best."--John English, Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, University of Toronto "McKercher has written an enjoyable, very readable, and original analysis of a quarrel between the Canadian and American governments in the early 1960s over the acquisition and deployment of nuclear weapons to defend North America. McKercher deftly unravels decades of legend and misinterpretation to produce what will become the most reliable account of John F. Kennedy's quarrel with the Canadian prime minister, John Diefenbaker. It takes a special skill to review a period where the problem is not too little, but too much, historical overlay. McKercher shows that he has that skill."--Robert Bothwell, author of Your Country, My Country: A Unified History of the United States and Canada