Following the death of Sir John Gorton on 19 May 2002, Christopher Zinn wrote in the Guardian that “Gorton left public life to become the most forgotten and unappreciated Australian leader”. Half a century after he assumed office as Australia’s nineteenth Prime Minister this week in 1968, it is timely to remember the ideals and legacy of that larrikin, craggy-faced World War II fighter-pilot who occupied Australia’s highest office at a critical juncture in the nation’s history.