Description

Biography of John McEwen, leader of the Federal Country Party from 1958 to 1971 and a complex man.

John McEwen, thirty-seven years a politician, twenty-three days a Prime Minister and always a farmer, was an extraordinary mix of a man. His staff revered him and his adversaries feared him. There was no one, friend or foe, who did not respect him. Orphaned at seven and raised in poverty, this self-educated soldier-settler overcame difficult beginnings to dominate the Australian political arena for twenty years. The success of the Liberal-Country Party coalition throughout the fifties and sixties is largely attributed to McEwen's strength and influence. Towering and formidable in both stature and personality, Black Jack's turbulent political career was never without controversy. His succession to the Prime Ministership in 1967, after the disappearance of Holt, followed one of the most notorious episodes of Australian political history when McEwen refused to serve under McMahon. Black Jack's commitment to developing Australian trade won him international respect and his influence on Australian economic and trade policy is enduring.