A very bad article. These book reviews and quotes are, as a whole, less than the sum of their parts. Leonard Cohen was used poorly and out of context. Barack Obama was mentioned without any real judgment or clear comparison to Canadian leaders.
If I had to summarize this, I would call it a reaffirmation of Creighton's place as Canada's greatest biographer of Prime Ministers. Who is our greatest biographer of Prime Ministers? Now I know, and knowing is half the battle. A very bad and irrelevant article.
The article's relevancy to the Walrus readership demonstrates how and why we need to learn from our past PM's. Each PM was pivotal in defining Canada, and gives us a sense of why we are at the present. We can only hope for a better future: no matter the politcal stripe.
With articles such as this, and people paying attention to them (especially leadership) will hopefully translate into positive action and results.