Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney, Former Clerk of the Privy Council (1940-1949)

Arnold Danford Patrick (A.D.P.) Heeney, C.C.
Clerk of the Privy Council and
Secretary to the Cabinet
March 25, 1940 to March 14, 1949

Biographical Notes

On March 25, 1940, Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney became the seventh Clerk of the Privy Council and the first Secretary to the Cabinet, a position he held until March 14, 1949.

Mr. Heeney was a graduate of the University of Manitoba, attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and earned a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University. He became Principal Secretary to Prime Minister King in 1938 and two years later was named Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. He was one of Canada's most important public servants during the Second World War, organizing the work of the Cabinet War Committee. In 1949, Mr. Heeney became Under Secretary of State for External Affairs, then Ambassador to NATO from 1952 to 1953. He served twice as Canadian Ambassador to the United States (1953-57 and 1959-62). For his services in the field of diplomacy and as a public servant he was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1968. He was Canadian Chairman of the International Joint Commission from 1962 to 1970, a position he held until shortly before his death on December 20, 1970. His autobiography, entitled The Things That are Caesar's: Memoirs of a Canadian Public Servant, was published posthumously in 1972.

[ Previous ] [ Former Clerks of the Privy Council ] [ Next ]