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==Party leader==
Shortly after the [[Quebec general election, 1935|1935 election]], [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)|Conservative]] Leader [[Maurice Duplessis]], a rising star in Québec politics, forced Taschereau to call the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which brought to light the existence of widespread corruption in the provincial government. The revelations made by the committee were embarrassing for several Liberal insiders. On June 11, 1936, less than a year after being put back in office, Taschereau resigned. He recommended to Lieutenant Governor [[Ésioff-Léon Patenaude]] the names of Édouard Lacroix and Adélard Godbout for his successor as Premier. Following constitutional conventions, the lieutenant governor offered the opportunity to form a government to Lacroix, who declined. He then made the offer to Godbout, who accepted. With the blessing of federal Cabinet Members, he took over
Godbout had remained untouched by the scandals. But despite Godbout's talks of "a new order" in an effort to distance himself from the Taschereau era, his first government lasted only two months, as his party suffered a humiliating defeat in the [[Quebec general election, 1936|1936 election]]. Led by Duplessis, the recently created [[Union Nationale (Quebec)|Union nationale]] was put in office. The Liberals were reduced to 14 seats. Godbout lost re-election in his own district of [[L'Islet (provincial electoral district)|L'Islet]]. He remained Liberal Leader after being reconfirmed at the [[Quebec Liberal Party leadership elections#1938 leadership convention|1938 party leadership convention]], but [[Télesphore-Damien Bouchard|T.-D. Bouchard]] led the parliamentary wing of the party until the [[Quebec general election, 1939|1939 election]].
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In the meantime though, Godbout made a spectacular comeback. He and 69 of his candidates were sent to the legislature. Godbout formed his second government, where he would serve as Premier and as minister of Agriculture.
Under
Adélard Godbout, while Premier of Québec, published an article entitled "Canada: Unity in Diversity" (1943) in the Council on Foreign Relations journal. He asked, "How does the dual relationship of the French Canadians make them an element of strength and order, and therefore of unity, in our joint civilization, which necessarily includes not only Canada and the British Commonwealth of Nations, but also the United States, the Latin republics of America and liberated France?"<ref name="unityindiversity">{{cite journal
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#the power to tax the income of individuals and corporations, in exchange for a much more modest financial compensation from the federal government. (Almost simultaneously, the federal government of Australia usurped state governments' tax powers.)
In a [[Conscription Crisis of 1944|1942 plebiscite]], Canadian voters were asked to release the federal government from its commitment made to the Québec voters not to declare military conscription. While the majority of predominantly French-speaking Québec refused to support such a release, English-speakers throughout Canada mostly did support it. Even though not that many people were forced to serve until the end of the war, the decision made by Mackenzie King to allow conscription (when both he and Godbout had specifically ruled out conscription earlier) was very unpopular in Québec. Duplessis, whose criticism of the federal encroachments upon the constitutional autonomy of the provinces capitalized on the Québec
==Electoral defeats==
In the [[Quebec general election, 1944|1944 provincial election]], Godbout's Liberals and
Godbout served as [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Quebec)|Leader of the Opposition]] until the [[Quebec general election, 1948|1948 election]]. Benefiting from post-war prosperity, the Union Nationale won an overwhelming majority. The Liberals won only eight seats, six of whom were located on the Montreal Island. Once again, Godbout narrowly lost re-election in his home district of L'Islet. In 1950, he relinquished the leadership of the Liberal Party.
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==Legacy==
Observers are divided about the significance of
[[Canadian federalism|Federalists]] stress the importance [[Progressivism|progressive]] precedents that were set under
[[Quebec nationalism|Autonomists]] on the other hand criticize him for taking a weak stance in the matters of the
More nuanced analysis claim that, being in power during World War II, he served in a difficult time, despite the shortcomings of his relations with the federal government.
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