Born in Ontario, "Jimmy" Gardiner became one of the most successful and powerful politicians in western Canada. He first entered the Saskatchewan Legislature as a Liberal in 1914, and was not defeated at the polls until 1958. Twice Premier of Saskatchewan (1926-29 and 1934-36), he was elected to the House of Commons in 1936, and served as Minister of Agriculture from 1936 to 1957. A combative, intensely partisan politician, Gardiner was for years the bulwark of his party in the West, and the voice of the prairie farmer in Ottawa. He died at Lemberg, Saskatchewan.