Pre-political Career
Manley attended Jamaica College and then served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. In 1945, he enrolled at the London School of Economics. He graduated in 1949, and returned to Jamaica to serve as an editor and columnist for the newspaper Public Opinion. At about the same time, he became involved in the trade union movement, becoming a negotiator for the National Workers Union. In August, 1953, he became a full-time official of that union.
When his father was elected chief minister of Jamaica in 1955, Manley resisted entering politics, not wanting to be seen as capitalizing on his family name. However in 1962 accepted an appointment to the Senate of the Parliament of Jamaica. He won a very close election to the Jamaican House of Representatives in 1967. After his father's retirement in 1969, Manley became leader of the People's National Party. He then served as leader of the Opposition, until his party won in the general elections of 1972.
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