Along with Arthur R. M. Lower and Donald Creighton he is regarded as one of the dominant Canadian historians of his generation.

He helped initiate the Canadian Centenary Series project and served as the Executive Editor for the nineteen-volume authoritative history of Canada.

Morton was a strong supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party[3] and was very much a Red Tory.

In 1969, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as an historian, teacher and author of several books on Canadian History.

"[4] Morton was a passionate nationalist and a conservative who fought against the liberal ideas that dominated Canadian thought after 1960, when the younger generation focused more on race, class, and gender as opposed to the national themes that intrigued Morton.