1968 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election

External video
– Pierre Trudeau declares 'Canada must be a just society' in 1968 – Sept. 9, 1968, CBC/Radio-Canada, (2:22 mins).

As Trudeau gained more public exposure, his popularity grew. Trudeau is believed to have decided he would run while on holiday in Tahiti over the Christmas break of 1967. The winter of 1968 was dominated by the lead-up to a February constitutional convention, at which Trudeau as justice minister was expected to play an important role. Lalonde, with the approval of Pearson, organized a pre-convention national tour in which Trudeau met with each of the premiers to talk about the constitution, and also to get guaranteed news coverage. One of his most important meetings was with Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood, whom Trudeau sufficiently impressed to earn Smallwood's lasting support. At the constitutional convention itself, Trudeau made a strong impression by outmanoeuvring and outdebating Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. on national television. Johnson, and many others, felt that French Canadian disaffection could only be addressed by giving Quebec more autonomy. Trudeau rejected this approach, arguing that the best way to protect the interests of French Canadians was to guarantee their rights across Canada. On February 17, only days after this success, Trudeau declared himself as an official candidate for the Liberal leadership.

To the surprise of many, Trudeau became one of the prime contenders. Marchand played a leading role in Trudeau's campaign and brought in many supporters, especially in Quebec. Trudeau received endorsements from three cabinet ministers, and two provincial premiers, with Louis Robichaud of New Brunswick joining Smallwood. Trudeau's charisma and attention-grabbing behaviour earned him far more media coverage than any other candidate. A Université Laval study found that from January 1 to March 20, Trudeau had received 26% percent of the media coverage devoted to the nine candidates running. Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp was a distant second, with only 16%.[7] Trudeau also received attention outside Canada, being profiled in both the British and American media.

By the end of the campaign, Trudeau was unquestionably the most popular figure among the Canadian public. A public opinion poll gave Trudeau 32% support, Martin 14% and Winters 10%, with the other candidates in single digits.[8] Many within the Liberal Party still had deep doubts about him, however. He was a recent convert, having joined the party only in 1965, and was still considered an outsider. Some saw him as too radical and outspoken a figure and bitterly opposed his views on divorce, abortion and homosexuality. A number of minor scandals also broke out, including one where articles written by Trudeau that were deeply critical of Pearson, especially of the decision to accept nuclear weapons in Canada, were republished. Trudeau was also forced to explain why he had been blacklisted by the United States in the 1950s.[9] His campaign was not run by professional political consultants, instead being directed by a group of young, extremely well educated amateurs such as Gordon Gibson and Jim Davey. The team impressed many, but it also made a number of errors.

The race was by no means a sure thing for Trudeau, and a number of potent candidates remained in the contest. Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp was one of the highest-profile cabinet ministers and represented the same liberal wing of the party as Trudeau. His campaign was badly hurt, however, when on February 19 the government was unexpectedly defeated on a tax bill, almost forcing a snap election. Pearson was out of the country, and as senior minister and finance minister getting the bill passed was Sharp's responsibility. After this debacle Sharp was prevented from campaigning through much of March by having to deal with a collapse in the world gold market. Though he campaigned intensively in the last few days, internal polling found that Sharp had fewer than 150 delegates and was unlikely to even be able to play kingmaker. The day before the convention, Sharp dropped out of the race and endorsed Trudeau. Sharp brought other ministers with him into the Trudeau camp, including Jean Chrétien, and at least a hundred delegates.[10] The endorsement of the respected elder statesman also reassured many who liked Trudeau but were worried about his radical image. A number of potent candidates remained in the race, including much of the inner cabinet. Paul Hellyer ran one of the most skilled campaigns, directed by Bill Lee, widely regarded as one of the Liberals' best campaign managers. The campaign received much attention for using a computer to keep track of delegates. By the convention Hellyer was widely viewed as having the greatest chance to defeat Trudeau. He had several prominent backers including Defence Minister Leo Cadieux and Secretary of State Judy LaMarsh. He drew support from a wide part of the political spectrum and from across the country, but was generally seen as somewhat to the right of Trudeau.

Robert Winters entered the race late, but won strong support representing the right wing of the party. He promised to privatize crown corporations if elected and also was highly critical of Pearson's fiscal policy, arguing that the new social programs would damage the Canadian economy. The faction of the party that was deeply worried about Trudeau's insurgency hoped for one of Hellyer or Winters to drop out and support the other, but neither would compromise.

Several other prominent ministers remained in the campaign, but were seen as having little chance of victory. The campaign of elder statesman Paul Martin, who had first run for the Liberal leadership in 1958, had slowly faded. Canada seemed in a mood to reject elder statesmen with few new ideas in favour of the fresh new faces. Martin remained in the race, however. Health Minister Allan MacEachen was also floundering and being pressured to drop out in favour of Trudeau, but he too remained. He had a firm base of support in his native Nova Scotia, but was expected to swing his votes to Trudeau after the first ballot. MacEachen ran on a strongly left-wing platform, defending Canada's new Medicare system. Agriculture minister Joe Greene was also still in the race and had support in Eastern and Northern Ontario, but was seen as a dark horse. Besides Trudeau, the candidate to garner the most attention for his charisma and oratory was the young junior minister John Turner. He gathered a following, but was viewed as too young and inexperienced to win.

Former Quebec provincial cabinet minister Eric Kierans ran a solid campaign with minimal resources. He developed a small following, but never having been a federal cabinet minister and without a seat in the House of Commons he remained an outsider.

Two fringe candidates also ran. Reverend Lloyd Henderson, a former mayor of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba had received one vote when he ran in the 1958 Liberal leadership convention and had also run unsuccessfully for parliament as an independent in the 1960s. He was not a delegate himself at the 1968 convention and would famously receive no votes even though his wife was a delegate. Ernst Zündel, not yet known publicly as a Holocaust denier, was also a candidate but dropped out before the first ballot after delivering a speech to the convention, decrying what he alleged was discrimination against German-Canadians.[11]

Trudeau was in first place on the first ballot with about as many votes as expected. Winters and Greene did surprisingly well, creating an unexpected four-way split in the anti-Trudeau vote with Turner and Hellyer. The result was especially disappointing to Hellyer, who had expected to get two hundred more votes than he had.

After the first ballot, Martin, MacEachen, and Kierans withdrew, knowing they could not win. Henderson, who did not get a single vote, was automatically eliminated. Kierans, despite being courted, did not endorse another candidate. Martin's tie for fourth ended any chance of victory, or even of playing kingmaker. After speaking with advisors and his son (future Prime Minister Paul Martin), Martin delivered an emotional withdrawal address that marked the end of his career in politics. Despite earlier discussions with the Hellyer camp, he did not endorse another candidate. Several of Martin's supporters, including Herb Gray, moved to support Trudeau. MacEachen withdrew and, as was expected, quickly endorsed Trudeau. However, he did not withdraw in time, and therefore remained listed on the second ballot.

Throughout the voting Trudeau projected an image of what Radwanski referred to as "supreme detachment." In his booth Trudeau played with the flower in his lapel and ate grapes by tossing them up in the air and catching them in his mouth.[14]

Trudeau's vote increased on the second ballot. The greatest surprise was Winters, who seemed to be drawing the largest share of the stop-Trudeau votes, with Hellyer unexpectedly falling into third place. Great pressure was exerted on Hellyer, and Turner and Greene, to unite behind Winters. Cabinet minister Judy LaMarsh was famously caught on tape telling Hellyer that "you've got to go to Winters. Don't let that bastard win it, Paul—he isn't even a Liberal." Only eight votes behind Winters, and still seeing a chance of victory, Hellyer refused to quit. Turner also stayed unexpectedly and he resolutely refused to deal. Greene was saved from elimination by MacEachen remaining on the ballot, but he promised to endorse Trudeau after the next round. Belatedly, Hellyer and Winters agreed that whoever finished third on the next ballot would withdraw and back the other against Trudeau, but most observers felt the time to block Trudeau had passed. Peacock states that it is "fascinating to speculate" what would have happened if Hellyer and Winters had reached an agreement after the second ballot, but he feels that Trudeau most likely would still have won.

The third ballot was a close repeat of the second, but Trudeau and Winters began to draw off a substantial number of votes from the candidates who no longer were seen to have had a chance of victory. As per earlier agreements Hellyer and Greene withdrew after this ballot, with Hellyer backing Winters and Greene endorsing Trudeau. To the surprise of many, Turner insisted on remaining on the ballot.

Trudeau and Winters won additional support on the final ballot, while Turner, despite having no hope of victory, won almost two hundred votes. Turner's delegates would later form the "195 Club," which would become fundamental in his 1984 run. Trudeau placed 249 votes ahead of Winters on this last ballot with 51% of the vote. With this majority, Trudeau was declared the winner.

Delegate support by Ballot

Candidate		1st ballot		2nd ballot		3rd ballot		4th ballot
		Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%
	TRUDEAU, Pierre Elliott	752	31.5%	964	40.5%	1,051	44.2%	1,203	50.9%
	HELLYER, Paul Theodore	330	13.8%	465	19.5%	377	15.9%	Endorsed Winters
	WINTERS, Robert Henry	293	12.3%	473	19.9%	621	26.1%	954	40.3%
	MARTIN, Paul Joseph James	277	11.6%	Did not endorse
	TURNER, John Napier	277	11.6%	347	14.6%	279	11.8%	195	8.2%
	GREENE, John James	169	7.1%	104	4.4%	29	1.2%	Endorsed Trudeau
	MACEACHEN, Allan Joseph	163	6.8%	11	0.5%	Endorsed Trudeau[A]
	KIERANS, Eric William	103	4.3%	Did not endorse
	HENDERSON, Harold Lloyd	0	-	Did not endorse
Spoiled ballots		24	1.0%	15	0.6%	19	0.8%	13	0.6%
Total		2,390	100.0%	2,379	100.0%	2,376	100.0%	2,365	100.0%

^A MacEachen announced after the first ballot that he was withdrawing and would support Trudeau, but he missed the deadline to remove his name from the ballot.

• English, John (2006). Citizen of the World. Toronto: Random House of Canada. ISBN 978-0-676-97522-2.
• Gwyn, Richard (1980). The Northern Magus. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-3732-5.
• Newman, Peter C. (1968). The Distemper of our Times. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
• Radwanski, George (1978). Trudeau. Toronto: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-7705-1655-6.
• Somerville, David (1978). Trudeau Revealed. Richmond Hill: BMG Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-920254-04-7.
• Trudeau, Pierre Elliott (1993). Memoirs. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-8588-5.

• "Sharp, Smallwood support Trudeau; Turner attacks backroom deals." The Globe and Mail, April 4, 1968, p. A1
• Stevens, Geoffrey. "Trudeau Promises to work as PM for 'a just society.'" The Globe and Mail, April 8, 1968, p. A1
• Sullivan, Martin. Mandate '68. Toronto: Doubleday, 1968.
• Westell, Anthony. "Candidates fail to make decisive impact on delegates." The Globe and Mail, April 5, 1968, p. A1
• Westell, Anthony and Geoffrey Stevens. "Favored Trudeau gets big ovation." The Globe and Mail. April 6, 1968, p. A1
• Westell, Anthony and Geoffrey Stevens. "Seven and a half hours of chaos, and an enigma chosen next PM." The Globe and Mail. April 8, 1968, p. A9