Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "He haunts us still," biographers Christina McCall and Stephen Clarkson wrote. Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect. They salute his political acumen in preserving national unity and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within Canada's constitution. Detractors fault Trudeau for poor administrative practices, arrogance, and lack of understanding of Canada outside Quebec. Nevertheless, few would dispute that Trudeau was a towering figure who helped redefine Canada.

Trudeau led Canada through some of its most tumultuous times and was often the centre of controversy. Known for his flamboyance, he dated celebrities, sometimes wore sandals in the House of Commons, was accused of using an obscenity during debate there, and once did a pirouette behind the back of Queen Elizabeth II.

Trudeau was the first Canadian Prime Minister born in the 20th century, as well as the first Prime Minister of Canada to serve as a single parent after his divorce.

Trudeau soon called an election, for 25 June (see Canadian federal election, 1968). His election campaign benefited from an unprecedented wave of personal popularity called "Trudeaumania" (a term coined by journalist Lubor J. Zink^[6]), which saw Trudeau mobbed by throngs of youths. An iconic moment that influenced the election occurred on its eve, during the annual Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, when rioting Québec separatists threw rocks and bottles at the grandstand where Trudeau was seated. Rejecting the pleas of his aides that he take cover, Trudeau stayed in his seat, facing the rioters, without any sign of fear. The image of the young politician showing such courage impressed the Canadian people, and he handily won the election the next day.^[7][8]

As Prime Minister, Trudeau espoused participatory democracy as a means of making Canada a "Just Society." He defended vigorously the newly implemented universal health care and regional development programs as means of making society more just.

During the October Crisis of 1970, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped British Trade Consul James Cross at his residence on the fifth of October. Five days later, Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped (and was later murdered, on 17 October). Trudeau responded by invoking the War Measures Act, which gave the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention without trial. Although this response is still controversial and was opposed as excessive by figures like Tommy Douglas, it was met with only limited objections from the public. Trudeau presented a determined public stance during the crisis, answering the question of how far he would go to stop the terrorists with "Just watch me." Five of the FLQ terrorists were flown to Cuba in 1970 as part of a deal in exchange for James Cross' life, but all members were eventually arrested. The five flown to Cuba were jailed after they returned to Canada years later.

Trudeau's first years would be most remembered for the passage of his implementation of official bilingualism. Long a goal of Trudeau, this legislation requires all Federal services to be offered in French and English. The measures were very controversial at the time in English Canada, but would be successfully passed and implemented.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau.

Pierre Trudeau speaks with Queen Elizabeth II.

Trudeau was the first world leader to agree to meet John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono on their 'tour for world peace'. Lennon said, after talking with Trudeau for 50 minutes, that Trudeau was "a beautiful person" and that "if all politicians were like Pierre Trudeau, there would be world peace."

On 4 March 1971, the Prime Minister married Margaret Sinclair, a woman who, at 22, was 30 years his junior. They later divorced.

In foreign affairs, Trudeau kept Canada firmly in the NATO Alliance, but often pursued an independent path in international relations. He made Canada the first western power to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (to Richard Nixon's fury), and went on a state visit to Beijing. He was known to be a friend of Fidel Castro and Cuba.

Trudeau and Cuban President Fidel Castro.

In the election of 1972, Trudeau's Liberal Party won with a minority government, with the New Democratic Party holding the balance of power. This government would move to the left, including the creation of Petro-Canada.

In May 1974, the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence in the Trudeau government. The election of 1974 saw Trudeau and the Liberals re-elected with a majority government with 141 of the 264 seats. In September 1975, Finance Minister, John Turner resigned. Trudeau later (in October 1975) instituted Wage and Price Controls, something which he had mocked Robert Stanfield for proposing during the election campaign a year earlier.

Trudeau's outward actions during his premiership led many to believe he harboured republican notions; it was even rumoured by Paul Martin, Sr., that the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for him." This may have had to do with the erasure of royal symbols, his documented antics around the Monarch, such as his sliding down Buckingham Palace banisters, and his famous pirouette behind the Queen, captured on film in 1977. He also glaringly breached protocol in 1978 when he was vacationing in Morocco, instead of in Canada to attend the Queen's arrival and departure. However, he was accused of instant monarchism, as well as opportunism during a period of personal unpopularity in the 1970s, when he invited Elizabeth II to attend the first Commonwealth Conference held on Canadian soil. The invitation, and acceptance of it, started the tradition of Elizabeth attending Commonwealth conferences, no matter the location. Also, in 1976, after Robert Bourassa, then Premier of Quebec, begged Trudeau to invite the Queen to the Olympics in Montreal, Trudeau, after obliging him, became annoyed when Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be. He commented directly on the Monarchy in 1967, when he, by then a Cabinet minister, stated "I wouldn't lift a finger to get rid of the monarchy... I think the monarchy, by and large, has done more good than harm to Canada." Ultimately, he­ experimented with the Crown more than any previous politician, and then entrenched the role of the Crown in Canada when he orchestrated the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982 (see below).^[9]

A worsening economy, burgeoning national debt, and growing public antipathy towards Trudeau's perceived arrogance caused his poll numbers to fall rapidly. Trudeau delayed the election as long as he could, but was forced to call one in 1979.