William Ashbury Buchanan

William Francis Asbury Buchanan (2 July 1876 – 12 July 1954) was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher and politician.

Early life William Francis Asbury Buchanan was born on 2 July 1876, at South Monaghan, Northumberland and Durham County, Ontario, one of seven children to Reverend William Buchanan and Mary Rebecca Pendrie Buchanan.

Buchanan was the managing director of the journal in St. Thomas from 1903 until 1905. He left Ontario in 1905 and moved west to Alberta and purchased the Lethbridge Weekly Herald. Buchanan was also named the first librarian of the Alberta Legislature in 1906.

Buchanan married Alma Maude Freeman in 1904 and had two children together, Donald and Hugh.

Political life Buchanan entered provincial politics when he contested the riding of Lethbridge City on behalf of the Alberta Liberal Party in the 1909 provincial election and won a seat in the 2nd Alberta Legislature. Buchanan defeated his Conservative opponent William Carlos Ives by 73 votes, and Labor opponent Donald McNabb by 315 votes. Buchanan had previously served as the president of the Lethbridge Liberal Association prior to his decision to run provincially. Despite Buchanan's success in Medicine Hat, the Liberal Party lost 48 seats and control of Parliament, and new Conservative government led by Robert Borden took charge.

As a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1917, Buchanan crossed the floor to support the government of Sir Robert Borden. He was re-elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Unionist for the new riding of Lethbridge in the 1917 general election defeating Laurier Liberals opponent Lambert "L" Pack. In 1918, Buchanan was part of a group of Canadian journalists brought over-seas to see the battlefields and military installations of the First World War as guests of Lord Beaverbrook, the head of the British wartime Ministry of Information. He wrote several installments published in the Lethbridge Herald about what he witnessed during the trip.

Buchanan weighed his options ahead of the 1921 election, deciding whether he would contest the riding for the Liberal party. Mackenzie King pushed Buchanan to stand for election, and Buchanan privately consented to run as an Independent Liberal, however Buchanan later changed his mind and chose not to run. He announced his decision on the first page of the Lethbridge Herald on 24 October 1921.

Buchanan was called to the Senate of Canada at the age of 49 on 5 September 1925, on the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, and served until his death in 1954 as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. championing the International Peace Park status which was realized in 1932 as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. In the Senate he was referred to as "the Senator from Waterton Lakes National Park".

Later life and legacy In 1944, Buchanan was elected president of The Canadian Press.