Prime Minister Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling served as the first black Premier of the Colony of the Bahama Islands, from 1967 – 1973 and as Prime Minister of the Bahamas, from 1973 – 1992, as leader of the Progressive Liberal Party. He was also a Privy Councilor and knighted by the Queen in 1983. A lawyer by profession, he held a law degree from the University of London. He was both a Barrister of the Middle Temple and an attorney of the Bahamas Bar. Pindling led the Bahamas to black majority rule in 1967 and Independence in 1973. He was the longest elected leader in the Western Hemisphere. The popular prime minister emphasized public aid to education and the continued attraction of foreign investment, international banking and tourism. He fought vigorously for equal rights. Sir Pindling is revered as the most dominant figure in Bahamian politics and is respected as the "Father of the Nation."