William Daum Euler
Inducted In
1972
When William Euler and W.L. MacKenzie King played together as schoolboys in Berlin, in the 1880s, neither realized the important place they would occupy in Canadian politics. King became Prime Minister and Euler a senator.
Born in Conestogo in 1875, Euler taught school for six years before opening a very successful business college. He was a school trustee, alderman, reeve, county councillor, and mayor in 1913-14. He was elected Federal member for Waterloo North in 1917 and was re- elected in 1921, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1935 and 1940, serving in Ottawa for twenty-three years.
In 1926, Euler was chosen as Revenue Minister to correct scandalous conditions in the Customs Department. Minister of Trade and Commerce, from 1935, he led trade missions to Europe and concluded many agreements beneficial to Canada. A senator from 1940 to 1961, Euler was one of Canada’s finest public servants.