Arthur Meighen was the 9th prime minister of Canada, and when I told that to my mother, she said, "Who?"

While many prime ministers are obscure, some are more than others. Most will remember Laurier, Macdonald or Trudeau the First, while the Tuppers, Campbells and Clarks remain relatively unknown. Meighen is at the top of the long list of obscure Canadian prime ministers.

And while he is relatively unknown, he had a very turbulent and interesting time in office. Due to his long-standing rivalry with William Lyon Mackenzie King, who he called Rex, the two of them swapped in and out of the PM's office for the better part of the 1920s. The two rivals, who met in university in Toronto, apparently didn't get along from the moment they met. Anyways, I'm ahead of myself.

Arthur Meighen was born in Perth County, Ontario on June 16, 1874 to happy parents of Joseph and Mary (***) Meighen. It seems like he was a bit of a goody-two-shoes student, and graduated with top honours in Latin, English and math, as well as being the top debater on the debating team. His grandfather, who was the schoolmaster at the Blanshard Public School when Meighen was educated, must have been beaming with a special kind of pride at this.

Meighen attended the University of Toronto, getting his bachelors in math (bleck), which is where me met his future political foe, Rex Mackenzie King. After graduating in 1896, he went to the Osgoode Hall Law School, and became a working lawyer after graduating.

As for his love life, it seems pretty stable, and no rumours of affair follow him, unlike his predecessor, Laurier. He married Isable Cox in 1904 who bore him three children - two sons and one daughter.

Meighen tiptoed his way into politics in 1908, getting elected into the House of Commons for the riding of Portage La Prairie in Manitoba. During the 1910s, he worked closely with Robbie Borden, serving in a number of posts, such as Soliciter General, Minister of Mines, and Secretary of State. And while he was close to Borden, he was not the first pick to step into his role after Borden resigned in 1920. The Governor General - the Duke of Devonshire originally asked William Thomas White to take over. White acted as finance minister during the war, masterminding the methods for how to pay for the war. But White decline the promotion, leaving the Duke to ask Meighen. Even after that, many of Meighen's colleagues in Ottawa advised him against becoming PM. The believed him to be unpopular due to his stances on tariffs, which made him unliked by farmer and labours across Canada. And his colleagues were kind of right - Meighen's first time in office lasted only a year and a half before losing to King's Liberals. Meighen would be back in office in 1926, for a total of two months, only to lose once again to his beloved foe, Rex King.

While in politics for over two decades, Meighen served a total of 1 year, 8 months, and 16 days, making him one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in Canadian history. It also pales in comparison to Mackenzie King, who is remembered as Canada's longest-serving PM, at 21 years, 7 months and 4 days. Writing about Meighen means I'm going to finally understand the King-Byng affair, which is what got him into power the second time. Learning is cool, especially when it's about obscure and dead prime ministers.