Premier of Quebec. He was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec. He was the first Quebec political leader since Confederation to attempt to negotiate the political independence of Quebec through a referendum. He studied for a law degree at Université Laval in Quebec City but left in 1943 before completing the degree. He then worked as an announcer and news writer at a radio station as a substitute announcer. During 1944 and 1945, he served as a liaison officer and war correspondent for the US Army in Europe. He reported from London while it was under regular bombardment by the Luftwaffe, and advanced with the Allied troops as they pushed back the German army through France and Germany. Throughout the war, he made regular journalistic reports on the airwaves and in print. He was with the first unit of Americans to reach the Dachau concentration camp. He worked as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's French Language section in the international service and again served as a war correspondent in the Korean War in 1952. After that, he was offered a career in journalism in the United States, but decided to stay in Quebec. From 1956 to 1959, he became known in Quebec for hosting a weekly television news program on Radio-Canada called Point de Mire. While working for the public television network, he became personally involved in the broadcasters' strike that lasted 68 days beginning in late 1958. He was arrested during a demonstration in 1959 along with union leader Jean Marchand and 24 other demonstrators. He entered politics and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the 1960 election as a Liberal Party member. He served as Minister of Hydroelectric Resources and Public Works from 1960 to 1961, and Minister of Natural Resources from 1961 to 1965. From 1965 to 1966 he served as Minister of Family and Welfare. The Liberals lost the 1966 election to the Union Nationale but Lévesque retained his own seat of Laurier. Believing that the Canadian federation was doomed to failure, he started to openly fight for separation from Canada as part of the Liberal platform at the upcoming party conference. The resolution was handily defeated, and Lévesque walked out with his followers. After leaving the Liberal Party, he founded the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association. The party avoided direct action and protest and attempted instead to appeal to the broader electorate. The main contention in the first party conference was the proposed policy toward Quebec's Anglophone minority. He faced down heavy opposition to his insistence that English schools and language rights be protected. The election of hardline federalist Pierre Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister and the riot that happened when he appeared at the St. Jean Baptiste Day parade of 1968 led to the sovereignty movement coming together. They would merge with another party in the Quebec sovereignty movement to create the Parti Québécois in 1968. The 1973 election saw a large Liberal victory, and created major tensions within the party, especially after he was unable to gain a seat. A quarrel with House Leader Robert Burns almost ended his leadership. They won a landslide victory in the 1976 election, with him finally re-entering the Assembly as the member for Taillon. His party assumed power with 41.1 percent of the popular vote and 71 seats out of 110. Lévesque became Premier of Quebec ten days later. The night of his acceptance speech included one of his most famous quotations: "I never thought that I could be so proud to be Québécois." He resigned as leader of the Parti Québécois on June 20, 1985, and as premier of Quebec on October 3, 1985. He was a constant smoker and while hosting a party in his apartment on the night of November 1, 1987 he experienced chest pains. He died of a myocardial infarction that night at Montreal General Hospital. Over 100,000 viewed his body lying in state in Montreal and Quebec City, and hundreds wept daily at his grave for months. He was a recipient of the title Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour and was posthumously made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2008.