John Gorton

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John Gray Gorton (center) in the 1950s

Sir John Gray Gorton (born September 9, 1911 in Melbourne , Victoria , † May 19, 2002 in Sydney ) was an Australian politician. From January 10, 1968 to March 10, 1971 he was Prime Minister of the country.

Life

Gorton was the second child of John Rose Gorton and Alice Sinn. His father was an immigrant who had come from England via South Africa , where he had made a small fortune as a businessman. His mother died when he was seven years old. He received his education at the Headford Preparatory School of Sydney Church of England Grammar School and then at the Geelong Grammar School . He graduated from Oxford University in Great Britain . After completing his studies, he returned to Australia and became the manager of his father's orchard near Kerang , Victoria.

On November 8, 1940, the Second World War also made itself felt in the Asia-Australian region, he reported to the RAAF ( Royal Australian Air Force ) , where he was trained as a fighter pilot. His locations were Singapore , Darwin and Milne Bay in Papua . Seriously wounded in a plane crash, he was sent to a rehabilitation camp and was released from the RAAF on December 5, 1944 with the rank of lieutenant in the Air Force.

Upon his return, he resumed his former work as a manager and worked in local government as a member of the Kerang City Council from 1946 to 1952. He joined the Country Party , later the Liberal Party . In December 1949 he was a candidate in the Senate election, which he won. He kept this seat in the following four Senate elections. On December 10, 1958, he was appointed Minister of the Navy under Robert Gordon Menzies , which he remained until December 1963. Subsequently he was Minister of Labor until 1967 and Minister of Education and Research until February 1968. From October 16, 1967 to February 1, 1968 he was also the leader of the government in the Senate.

After the mysterious disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt , Sir John McEwen became Prime Minister on short notice. Due to the resulting turmoil, Gorton saw his time had come and through clever moves he reached his candidacy for leader of the party, whereupon he also became Prime Minister on January 10, 1968. During his tenure, the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Australia, the Jervis Bay nuclear power plant , which his successor McMahon completed after only the foundations had been built, fell. On March 10, 1971, at the insistence of his own party, he resigned from his post and, according to Australian historiography, is said to have voted against himself in the vote. William McMahon won the following vote and became the new Prime Minister. Gorton then served as Secretary of Defense until August 13, 1971.

John Gray Gorton was the only Senator to ever become Prime Minister. Traditionally, these come from the House of Representatives, comparable to the German Bundestag.

Gorton had three children from his first marriage to Bettina Brown. Ten years after her death, he married a second time. Mount Gorton in Antarctica is named in his honor .