Editing John Abbott (section)

===Prime minister===
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When Prime Minister Macdonald died in office, Abbott supported [[John Sparrow David Thompson|John Thompson]] to succeed him, but reluctantly accepted the plea of the divided [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative party]] that he should lead the government, though he considered himself a [[caretaker government|caretaker]] prime minister for his seventeen months in office. He was one of just two Canadian Prime Ministers, the other being [[Mackenzie Bowell]], to have held the office while serving in the Senate rather than the House of Commons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography – THOMPSON, Sir JOHN SPARROW DAVID – Volume XII (1891-1900) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/thompson_john_sparrow_david_12E.html|access-date=2021-07-11|website=www.biographi.ca}}</ref>

Soon after Abbott assumed office in 1891, Canada was plunged into an economic recession; later that same year he faced another challenge as the McGreevy-Langevin scandal came to light, revealing that [[Hector-Louis Langevin]], former Minister of Public Works in the Conservative government, had conspired with contractor [[Thomas McGreevy]] to defraud the government.

Despite the political toll on his party, Abbott dealt with the backlog of government business awaiting him after Macdonald's death, including reform of the civil service and revisions of the criminal code. He attempted in 1892 to negotiate a new treaty of reciprocity with the United States, but failed to reach an agreement.

During his term, there were 52 by-elections, 42 of which were won by the Conservatives, increasing their majority by 13 seats—evidence of Abbott's effectiveness as prime minister. One year into his time as prime minister, Abbott attempted to turn the office over to Thompson, but this was rejected due to anti-[[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] sentiment in the Tory caucus.<ref name="EB"/>