Robert Borden left behind a robust legacy because he was faced with a barrage of challenges none of his predecessors had to face - namely the Great War. Because of the devastation of World War 1, Robbie had to navigate Canada's place in an uncertain diplomatic world, and took the opportunity to loosen Canada's grip on Britain's large and over-extended hand.

Robbie was Canada's first war time prime minister, and he stayed PM during this time due to some political manuvering - including creating his own political party, the Unionist Party - to beat Laurier's Liberals in the 1917 federal election. The Unionist Party was a eclectic mix of politicians, including war-supporting Liberals and a smattering of Conservatives.

While he faced many issues during the war - most notably the Conscription Crisis of 1917, that once again pitted the English and French populations against each other - how he represented Canada at the Paris Peace Talks in 1919 is worth delving into, for no other reason that he was kind of a dick, but in a good way, as he was advocating for Canada's place at the table and as it's own nation, not as a subsidiary of the British Empire. Robbie protested the opening ceremonies of the Paris Peace Talks because he thought that Newfoundland, which was separate from Canada at that time, was treated with more respect and dignity than Canada was. Robbie was having none of it.

During the actual peace talks, Borden demanded to have a separate seat and vote from Britain, under the leadership of David Lloyd George. This was not liked by either Britain or the United States at first, as Britain wanted to remain in control of its dominions and the US was convinced that it would simply act as another vote for Britain's interests on all levels. Using the argument that Canada had lost a larger number of men in combat that the US did, Canada had the right to proper representation during the peace talks. According to the Canadian War Museum, Canada lost over 59,000 people during the Great War, to the US's 53,000. His argument eventually won, opening the door for other British dominions to have their input heard, including Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. As badass historian Margaret MacMillan wrote in Paris 1919:

"By 1916 the dominions, which has once tiptoed reverentially around the mother country, were growing up. They and their generals has seen too much of what Sire Robert Borden, the Canadian prime minister, called 'incompetence and blundering stupidity of the whiskey and soda British H.Q. Staff'."

Apparently our Robbie was quite the word wizard as well. Margaret MacMillan also calls Borden "upright and handsome" more than once in the book, meaning Robbie represented Canada well on the world stage and into the history books.

By distinguishing Canada as its own nation, with its own battle wounds and concerns, Robbie was able to step out of Britain's shadow leading to other practices to follow - such as the Nickle Act of 1920, forbidding the British monarch from knighting any Canadian citizens. In fact, Sir Robert Borden was the last Canadian PM to be knighted, a tradition that used to be as common as butter on toast in the early days of the country (before Borden, the only PM not to be knighted was Alexander Mackenzie...).

While he accomplished some other massive feats during his tenure as PM - WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE and all - how Sir Robbie presented himself, and thus Canada, during the Paris Peace Conference had a massive impact on the direction and character of our country. Also, because it's been exactly 100 years since women gained the right to vote in Canada - 1918, y'all - I'm going to devote a big ol' blog to that specifically, looking at some of the badass women and male allies that made it happen. Because if I didn't have my right to vote, I wouldn't be as interested in politics. And without my interest in politics, I would just be another basic bitch with two cute cats and a blog.

And finally, of all the PM's I've looked into, Robbie Borden is the one I would choose to share a bottle of whiskey with, that upright and handsome devil.