Talk:William Lyon Mackenzie King

( William Lyon Mackenzie) surname WAS NOT KING ( Mackenzie King ) completely different person ( occultist )

Lead - last paragraph

User:Mr Serjeant Buzfuz, I think that "Though he planned an active retirement..." should be removed. Writing memoirs doesn't necessarily indicate that he planned an active retirement. Ak-eater06 (talk) 06:10, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

He "allowed his intense spirituality to distort his understanding of Adolf Hitler throughout the late 1930s"

Did this ever happen to any body besides William kingM this seems like a pathetic attempt to deflect and wash way what he believed. 199.119.235.138 (talk) 00:47, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

short description

The current SD – Template:TQC is too long, as well as being troublesome to read. Changes to a valid and shorter version – Template:TQC were rejected. How about – Template:TQC? Definitely short enough, correct about life dates, but also including "Prime Minister of Canada", so seems to meet the need — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 14:08, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

I could live with that. My objection to "politician and statesman" is that it's a generic description used for a large number of bios. The key thing here is that he was the PM of Canada; that's the most significant / notable factor about him as an individual, and the reason for this article, and should be reflected in the short description. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 13:07, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

Green tickY — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 14:28, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

The problem with Template:Tq is that it implies he was prime minister during those years, per WP:SDDATES. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 22:33, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

Template:Tq would be a better alternative. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 22:37, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

There were three other prime ministers during the 1920s to 1940s: Meighen, Bennett, and St Laurent. Using this set of years suggests that he was the only prime minister (and that we're not certain of the dates). Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 17:38, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Maybe Template:Tq could work? This makes it clear he wasn't in office continuously. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 20:11, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

No, because that doesn't make it clear that the terms were non-continuous. For example, describing a US president like Reagan as "serving two terms from 1981 to 1989" would be taken as a continuouse term. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 20:19, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Template:Tq should suffice then. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 20:21, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Template:TQC — way too long — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 20:30, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

He was Prime Minister for 76 years? Nobody will be confused by that — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 22:51, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

Template:Tq is an office, not a description. Template:Tq is illogical as a result. ‑‑Neveselbert (talk · contribs · email) 22:57, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

Hence Template:TQ. At the least, that is correct — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 15:41, 22 March 2025 (UTC)

But it does not mention the most important reason for Wikipedia having an article about him. "Politicians and statesmen" are two a penny; there have only been 24 Prime Ministers. The short description should have the most notable thing. Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 17:33, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

I don't see any problem with the 55-character short description. To do anything different would be to break consistency with Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Harold Wilson, etc. estar8806 (talk) ★ 20:42, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Agreed. And the information page (note: not a guideline page) for short descriptions clearly acknowledges that 40 characters is not a firm cut-off, when it says that only 3% of short descriptions are longer than 60%, and that ones that are longer than 100 characters will get truncated. Clearly, that indicates that short descriptions over 40 characters can be used. Mackenzie King was unique in Canada and that affects his SD here. WP:SDLENGTH Mr Serjeant Buzfuz (talk) 21:53, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

Longest-serving Liberal Leader

This article says that King was the longest-serving Liberal leader at exactly 29 years. However, the article on Wilfred Laurier states that Laurier served longest at 31 years and eight months. Can someone resolve this! WmDKing (talk) 18:23, 7 June 2025 (UTC)