The Life and Times of Robert Borden

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Bound for greatness, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden changed Canada’s worldwide image right from the time he took office. During an exceptionally critical time of Canadian history, Robert Borden proved to be an incredibly effective and hard-working leader. Most notably, he brought Canada, by means of his dynamism and superior leadership skills, through and out of the nation’s struggles during the Great War. Therefore, considering the great adversities he has faced throughout his career, Sir Robert Borden has establishing himself as being one of the most remarkable figures in Canada’s history. Born on June 26, 1854 into a rural Nova Scotian farming community to a liberal family with a love of learning, young Robert Laird Borden was educated at the local school, Acacia Villa Academy. So promising were his intellectual abilities, that he became an assistant school master in classical studies at the Academy at the age of fourteen. By then, he had mastered Latin, French, and German, along with English (primeministers.ca). At nineteen, he was offered a teaching position to teach classics and mathematics in the small town of Matawan, New Jersey. Seeing no future in teaching, he returned to Nova Scotia two years later, in 1874, and began articling for a Halifax law firm, not having the means to study law in university. He was then called to the Nova Scotia Bar in August 1878, and proceeded to establish himself as a successful lawyer, gaining a prominent reputation in legal circles, while also in partnership with Charles Hibbert Tupper, son of the future prime minister, Charles Tupper. With the help of Tupper, Robert Borden successfully founded his own law firm and by the 1890s, he ran the largest legal practice in the Maritime Provinces, nearly guaranteeing his financial future. On September 25, 1889, he would marry Laura Bond, the daughter of a Halifax hardware merchant.

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