Mulroney’s Shadows: The Many Images of Canada’s Eighteenth Prime Minister

Abstract

Brian Mulroney has a multi-faceted and still-evolving legacy. He pleases few and angers many, but often for contradictory reasons. This paper uses the writings of Mulroney and others to explore his multiple and paradoxical images, including Mulroney as perfection, as American, as neo-conservative, as family man, as crook, and as comeback. It argues that there is perhaps no real Mulroney – only impressions and shadows. In this sense, Mulroney’s insecurities, yearnings and absence of an obvious core reflect very widespread Canadian values. If Pierre Trudeau represented what many want Canada to be, Brian Mulroney may reflect Canada as it really is.