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"...it has fallen to me to do what cannot be done by anyone else from an intimate perspective, to write a biography which falls as close to a presentation of the history of  the period as possible. Aware of that heavy responsibility, I have tried to adhere to an objective, unbiased presentation.  I am sure that the passion of certain events overtook me at times, and that on other occasions some bias has filtered in as the story unfolded, but there were times when the brutal truth demanded raw presentation because history demanded an accurate record. As Harry Truman said: "I never gave anybody hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell". 

Edward Seaga, My Life and Leadership Vol. 1: Clash of Ideologies

Edward Seaga

Born in 1930 in Boston, Massachusetts to Jamaican parents, Edward Philip George Seaga grew up in Jamaica. He graduated from Harvard University in 1952.  An early career in cultural anthropology leading to music promotion became, from 1959, subordinate to one in politics. He served in the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Bustamante and Shearer governments in the 1960's as a gifted Minister of Finance.  As a leader of the JLP from 1974 he served as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1989 and as Leader of the Opposition from 1974 to 1980 and from 1989 until his retirement in January 2005, after unbroken years in Parliament, a record unsurpassed by anyone. He subsequently pursued research as a distinguished Fellow at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Technology until his passing in 2019 at the age of 89 years old.

Chocomo Lawn

Chocomo Lawn is a company operated by two of Edward Seaga's children; Anabella Seaga-Mian and Andrew Seaga. It is dedicated to ensuring their father's legacy through his memoirs. Named after the area in West Kingston where a young Edward Seaga hosted youth-talent shows in the late 1960's producing Jamaican greats like Dennis Brown, Ken Boothe, Dean Frazer and Toots, Chocomo Lawn continues to showcase Jamaican brilliance.

Related Quotes

Equal Rights and Justice

To the people of Jamaica with respect and Honor:

We've set out not to destroy wealth, but to create it; not to pull down the strong who succeed, but to pull up the weak who are trying; not to accept ignorance as a way of life, but to abolish it; not to tolerate injustice to man, for every man must have equal rights and justice. 

Edward Seaga, JLP All-Island Conference 2001

Hard Road to Travel

"I don't think there is any other in the postwar Caribbean who has built and left as monuments for posterity, so many institutions and so many new beginnings and so many ideas in the sphere of public management... I have a deep respect for Seaga, unlike most of my colleagues, but he is probably too far ahead of his time. I think he represents the future. I see him as a sort of Caribbean Lee Kwan Yu... I think history will record him as the most significant influence."

Dr. Carl Stone, eminent Jamaican Professor of Political Sciences, when asked to name those who most influenced Jamaica's development since independence.