A prominent figure in Canada's political history, "Bible Bill" Aberhart took the lead in establishing the Social Credit party in Alberta, and was elected premier in 1935 and again in 1940. He achieved this success through the enthusiasm for organization and the extraordinary ability as a public speaker which made him a successful high school principal in Calgary and the best-known evangelical preacher in the province. He was among the first public figures to recognize the uses of radio, whose possibilities he developed as an evangelist and mastered as a politician.