Robert Borden, or Robbie as I will affectionately call him, is most notably known as the man who led Canada in World War 1. And while that will always be the mainstay of his legacy, he did a few other things during his nine-year reign as PM, including championing women's suffrage and the creation of his own political party. But that's the meat to the story. We have to first start with the salad.

Robbie Borden was born in Grand-Pre Nova Scotia, on June 26, 1854 - making him the last prime minister to be before before the Confederation of the country. The last pre-1867 baby. He was born into a loving family, from what Robbie said of his parents. He said he father was a "man of good ability and excellent judgement," while he said his mother had "a very strong character, remarkable, energy, high ambition and unusual ability," which are beaming parental reviews, especially for the era.

Robbie was a teacher from 1868 - which would make him a Doogie Howser kind of teacher, at only 14 years old - until 1874, when he realized that it bored him. He went to Halifax and articled to become a lawyer despite having no formal education. When he was called to the bar in 1878, he placed first in all of his examinations (Doogie Howser would have done the same). Two years after that, he was inducted into the Freemasons(!!).

By 1882, Robbie was asked to join Charles Tupper's law firm in Halifax, and by the time he was 35 he became a senior partner, ultimately taking it over when Tupper left the firm to pursue his political career, and he did all of this with no formal education.

While pursuing his bootstrap legal career, Robbie didn't make much time for love. But in 1889, he married Laura Bond, the daughter of a hardware merchant, and like Laurier before him, he and his wife had no children. Unlike Laurier, there are no rumours that Robbie fathered a child with his lover of two decades. At least none that I can find.

Robbie had a penchant for changing political parties. He grew up Liberal, and was the cousin of Liberal MP Fredrick Borden, but he became a Conservative in 1891 due to Reciprocity - aka free trade - policies. So when he was elected to the House of Commons in 1896, it was as a Tory. And after Charles Tupper stepped down as party leader after his lose at the hands of Laurier's Liberals, Robbie was asked to step into the role as leader. He went toe-to-toe against Laurier during the latter's 15 years in power, with Reciprocity being the issue that finally won Robbie a spot in voters' hearts - he successfully campaigned against Laurier in 1911. Robbie campaigned using a modern version of John A. Macdonald's National Policy, calling for high tariffs on imported goods to support Canadian industry and loyalty to the British Empire.

Most of Borden's nine years at the helm of the country were spent in wartime. From 1914 to 1919, he navigated the country through the First World War, including the conscription crisis of 1917 and the 1919 Paris Peace talks, where he demanded his own seat at the table, not just a chair leg to support David Lloyd George and the British Empire. But this is now the meat, which I will devour next week. It's seasoned with women's suffrage.