John Howard

John Howard married Janette Parker, a fellow member in the Liberal Party, in 1971.

He has a girl, Melanie and two boys, Tim and Richard from the marriage.

John Howard was born John Winston Howard on July 26, 1939 in the suburb of Earlwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Lyall Howard and Mona Kell.

He was the youngest of the four sons of his parents and his elder brothers were Stanley, Walter and Robert.

He attended the ‘Earlwood Primary School’ and the ‘Canterbury Boy’s High School’ run by the NSW state.

He studied law at the ‘University of Sydney’ after obtaining his ‘School Leaving Certificate’ and graduated from there in 1961.

After graduating from University, John Howard practiced as a solicitor in the NSW Supreme Court for twelve years but did not pursue the career of barrister and instead turned to politics.

He joined the Liberal Party of New South Wales in 1957 and became the president of the youth organization of the party ‘Young Liberals’ from 1962 to 1964.

In 1967 he was selected as the candidate for the suburban seat of Drummoyne which was held by Reg Coady of the Labor Party.

In the federal election held in 1968, Howard lost by a very narrow margin to Coady despite the Liberal government returning to power.

He became a ‘Member of Parliament’ in the ‘House of Representatives’ from a suburb in Sydney named Bennelong in the 1974 elections.

He was unable to pursue a law career and turned to politics instead due to a speech impediment.