The Most Honorable Michael Norman Manley, ON, OM, OCC: Elected to serve from March 1972 to November 1980 and from February 1989 to March 1992.
Michael Manley, affectionately called Michael or “Joshua,” is regarded by some as Jamaica’s most charismatic, eloquent, flamboyant, and controversial leader. He led the PNP to victory in 1972, promising “Better Must Come” on a crest of political popularity, rarely seen in Jamaica’s 58 years. However, within a relatively short period, the nation’s populist leader became one of the nation’s most controversial leaders because of his political philosophy, which sought to alleviate the pressures on the poor masses through his aggressive advocacy of Democratic Socialism.
Michael, the second son of Norman Manley, born December 10, 1924, was also an avid trade unionist and the leader of the National Workers Union, the foil to the BITU. Like Shearer, he used his involvement in trade unionism as a stepping stone to representative politics. He was appointed a PNP Senator in 1962 and elected to the House of Representatives in 1967. When Norman Manley retired as leader of the PNP in 1968, the younger Manley defeated his rival Vivian Blake to become the party’s leader. He became the opposition leader and positioned himself as the defender of the poor and the purveyor of social change. He resolutely led the PNP to an overwhelming victory over Hugh Shearer and the JLP to become prime minister in 1972.
As prime minister, Manley introduced and implemented a wide variety of social and economic reforms and programs and enhanced the nation’s identity in the international arena. Among his accomplishments as prime minister were lowering the minimum voting age to 18, introducing paid maternity leave, outlawing the stigma of illegitimate births, introducing a national literacy program, working participation in Jamaican public companies, and a national youth service program, and offering free education at all levels.
However, as he lost the support of some of the nation’s wealthier class and skilled Jamaicans, with an increasing number migrating to North America, the economy faltered and weakened. Gradually, Manley lost the support of the U.S. government and, forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support, his transformative social agenda suffered. Although the PNP and Manley were reelected in 1976, as the economy worsened and political violence flared, Manley’s political influence suffered. The party was soundly defeated by the JLP, led by Edward Seaga, in 1980.
After nine years as leader of the opposition, the PNP, led by a philosophically reformed Manley, was re-elected to office in February 1989. However, Manley, who had been ailing while in opposition, succumbed to worsening health and was a shadow of the prime minister he was in the 70s. His recurring health issues led to him retiring while in office in 1992, and in the subsequent PNP internal elections to elect his successor, Percival James Patterson was victorious.
Manley was also a gifted writer. While serving as prime minister, he wrote, Politics of Change (1973) and Search for Solutions (1977). In opposition, he wrote JAMAICA: Struggle in the Periphery (1982), Up the Down Escalator (1987), and A History of West Indies Cricket (1988).
In retirement, his health steadily deteriorated, and he died on March 6, 1997, at age 72.
