Editing Joe Clark (section)

==Early political career==
Clark became politically active while at university, although he had been aware from a young age of politics in Canada. He competed with the [[University of Alberta Debate Society]]. He served as president of the [[University of Alberta]] Young Progressive Conservatives and eventually served as national president for the Young PCs group.<ref name="Mulroney 1991">''Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition'', by [[John Sawatsky]], 1991.</ref> Clark sparred with future political rival [[Preston Manning]] in debate forums on campus between the Young PCs and the Youth League of the [[Alberta Social Credit Party]]. Clark encountered another future rival when he met [[Brian Mulroney]] at a national Young PCs meeting in 1958.<ref name="Mulroney 1991"/>

Clark spent time in France to improve his fluency in the French language and took courses in French while he was living in [[Ottawa]]. He eventually became comfortable speaking and answering questions in French.<ref name="Joe Clark 1978"/>

Clark entered politics at age 28 but was unsuccessful as candidate for the provincial [[Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta|Progressive Conservatives]] in the [[1967 Alberta general election|1967 provincial election]]. He served as a chief assistant to provincial opposition leader and future Premier [[Peter Lougheed]] and served in the office of federal opposition leader [[Robert Stanfield]], learning the inner workings of Parliament.<ref name="Mulroney 1991"/> Clark unsuccessfully ran for the [[Legislative Assembly of Alberta]] in the [[1971 Alberta general election|1971 provincial election]]. He then successfully ran in the federal election [[1972 Canadian federal election|held a year later]] and was elected to Parliament as the MP for [[Rocky Mountain (federal electoral district)|Rocky Mountain]], a largely rural riding in southwestern Alberta.

Clark had initially been viewed with suspicion, but over time won over senior members of the party. Robert Stanfield initially thought Clark not to be fit for politics, but over time came to view him as leadership material. Erik Nielsen viewed Clark as fiercely partisan, but was impressed by Clark's questioning the government.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Granatstein |first1=J.L. |title=Prime ministers : ranking Canada's leaders |last2=Hillmer |first2=Norman |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1999 |isbn=0-00-200027-X |location=Toronto |pages=167–168 |language=en}}</ref>

Clark's social liberalism put him at odds with the right-wing members of his caucus, several of whom were not afraid to confront him. For example, in the lead-up to the 1979 election, the bulk of Clark's riding was merged into the newly created riding of [[Bow River (electoral district)|Bow River]] during a [[Redistribution (election)|redistribution]] of ridings.  Fellow Tory MP [[Stanley Schumacher]] had much of his old riding of [[Palliser (Alberta electoral district)|Palliser]] merged into Bow River as well.  Even though Clark was now party leader, Schumacher refused to step aside in Clark's favour, forcing Clark to run in nearby [[Yellowhead (electoral district)|Yellowhead]].<ref name="Mulroney 1991"/>