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Pierre Trudeau wins the Liberal leadership in 1968

Pierre Trudeau accepts "the very heavy responsibility" of being Liberal leader and prime minister of Canada.

Trudeau wins leadership on fourth ballot, making him Lester Pearson's successor

CBC Archives ·
Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester Pearson as Liberal leader, after winning the leadership contest in 1968.

When Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson announced his retirement in December 1967, the young justice minister Pierre Trudeau seemed an unlikely choice to succeed him as liberal leader. 

Characterized as an "athlete, political philosopher, lawyer, teacher, bon vivant," in a profile by the CBC's Norman DePoe the previous May, Trudeau himself had rejected the suggestion that occupying the prime minister's office was an ambition.

But when the time came to choose a new leader, Trudeau added his name to the list of Liberals vying for the leadership.

His victory was only certain after the fourth and final ballot in April 1968, when he won with 1,203 votes, edging out the two remaining contenders, Robert Winters and John Turner.  

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 46, raises his arms in the traditional victory sign after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada at a convention in Ottawa in April of 1968. (Chuck Mitchell/Canadian Press)

A jubilant Trudeau took the stage and accepted what he called "an extremely great honour … and a very heavy responsibility." 

Promising to bear the responsibility "with all my strength and with all my energy," he further declared that the country must be "unified," "progressive" and ultimately "Canada must be a just society."

Pierre Trudeau declares 'Canada must be a just society' in 1968

56 years ago
Duration 2:22
Pierre Trudeau accepts the "very heavy responsibility" of being Liberal leader and prime minister of Canada at the 1968 Liberal leadership convention. Aired Sept. 9, 1968 in the documentary The Style is the Man Himself.