He was widely regarded as the "Father of the Nation" during his tenure as first minister,[1] and the "Architect of Devolution" whilst serving as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997 to 1999.

[9] Both of Dewar's parents had ill health during his childhood; his father contracted tuberculosis and his mother suffered from a benign brain tumour when he was young.

Dewar was made a member of the public accounts committee and in October 1967, he was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the President of the Board of Trade, Anthony Crosland.

He hosted a Friday evening talk show on Radio Clyde, and in June 1971 was beaten by Dennis Canavan when he applied for the seat of West Stirlingshire.

In Scotland's first referendum on devolution, held in March 1979, he campaigned for a "Yes" vote alongside the Conservative Alick Buchanan-Smith and the Liberal Russell Johnston.

After a year honing his inquisitorial skills, he joined the front bench in November 1980 as a Scottish affairs spokesman when Michael Foot became party leader.

In 1981, as the Labour Party divided itself further due to internal disagreement, Dewar was almost deselected in his constituency by hard left activists, but he successfully defended himself against this threat.

On 21 December 1988, Dewar was in Lockerbie after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103,[19] as the member of the Shadow Cabinet in charge of Scottish affairs.

He was able to start the devolution process he dreamt of years earlier, and worked on creating the Scotland Act, popularly referred to as "Smith's unfinished business".

[29] Ahead of forming the coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Dewar was urged not to succumb to pressure to scrap tuition fees in Scotland, mostly by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and education secretary David Blunkett of the UK Government.

[5] On 23 March 2000, Dewar presided over the launch of a consultation paper by his Minister for Justice, Jim Wallace, on stalking and harassment in Scotland.

In response, Henry McLeish, the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning in the Dewar government confirmed that "efforts would be made to gather exact statistics to tackle the issue".

Dewar stated that the executive was committed to tackling the core root of the issues to be "sure that all our children have the best start in life" whilst also advocating the role education and employment plays in social justice.

[33] During his time in office, Dewar presided over record levels of employment in Scotland and advocated that this was in part the responsibility of his executives agenda and policies.

Dewar claimed that the introduction of quality child-care, the national minimum income guarantee for pensioners and the establishment of the "New Deal" had "laid the foundations" for an increase in employment in the country.

Additionally, Dewar was hopeful that strong numbers of 18 year olds in full time education would continue to increase under his premiership, stating that he wanted to "skill the workforce, not only to make the Scottish economy truly competitive but to provide opportunities for the individual".

[35] One of the first scandals to hit the new Scottish Parliament occurred when allegations that the lobbying arm of public relations company Beattie Media had privileged access to ministers were published, prompting Dewar to ask the standards committee to investigate the reports.

[38] The introduction in Scotland of the reformed examinations system in 2000 was criticised in the press and by the Government after a series of administrative and computer errors led to several thousand incorrect Higher and Intermediate certificates being sent out by post.

[39] The crisis took several months to resolve, and several management figures including the Chief Executive, Ron Tuck, resigned or lost their jobs as a result.

[40] On 15 August 2000, it was announced that several senior officials with the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) would be facing disciplinary action as a result of the error.

BBC News suggested that Chief Executive Ron Tuck and the Minister for Education Sam Galbraith were "kept in the dark" about the problems.

[45] In early 2000, Dewar was admitted to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary after tests at Stobhill Hospital highlighted "minor irregularity" in his heart.

[50] After returning to office, Dewar was described as being "visibly tired" and fears for his health at this stage were officially dismissed following a First Minister's Question Time.

[51][52][53] Dewar dealt with the 2000 exam results controversy and the lorry drivers' strike, and attended the Labour Party conference in Brighton, but on 29 September 2000[54] he told the historian Tom Devine in Dublin that if he did not feel any better, he would have to reappraise the situation in a few months' time.

[55] On 10 October 2000, Dewar sustained a seemingly harmless fall outside his official residence at Bute House following a meeting of the Scottish Cabinet.

[56] He seemed fine at first, but later that day suffered a massive brain haemorrhage which was possibly triggered by the anticoagulant medication he was taking following his heart surgery.

[58][59] Dewar's funeral service was held at Glasgow Cathedral, he was cremated on 18 October 2000 and his ashes were scattered at Lochgilphead in Argyll.

[67] Dewar received nicknames such as "Donald Dour" for his stiff, matter-of-fact tone and "The Gannet" due to his large appetite.

On the base of the statue was inscribed the opening words of the Scotland Act: "There Shall Be A Scottish Parliament", a phrase to which Dewar himself famously said, "I like that!"

Dewar called the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill in Edinburgh a "nationalist shibboleth", mainly because it had been the proposed site of the Scottish Assembly in the 1979 referendum.