Tun Dr Ismail seemed fated to become the third prime minister of the country he helped free from colonial rule. Being the first Malay medical graduate from Melbourne University's Queen's College, he had imagined becoming a wealthy doctor in his hometown of Johor Bahru. The political fervour of the times overwhelmed him, however, and he was compelled to leave his private practice and enter reluctantly into politics. When he returned from Australia after World War II, he was convinced that the best strategy for intellectuals fighting for Malayan independence was to join an established mass movement. He found this in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), but only after Tunku Abdul Rahman had become its leader in 1951. From that moment on, Ismail became a key player in the country's history until his premature death in 1973.

A faulty heart valve hounded him all his life, and he tried endlessly to remedy the condition through regular golfing and swimming. He was also plagued by recurrent neck cancer. In early 1967, with his wife pregnant with their sixth child, he felt that he had done enough in politics and decided to retire from his 4 The Reluctant Politician ministerial posts. His doctors were advising him to slow down, and he felt that his young family needed him more than ever.

The racial riots that followed the 10 May 1969 general elections pushed the country towards widespread chaos, and presented him with no other choice but to leave his comfortable retirement and return to the fray. With Prime Minister Tunku now sidelined, Deputy Premier Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Ismail — who again became home affairs minister — became the true leaders of the country. For over four years, Razak and Ismail easily complemented each other in laying the foundations for a new Malaysia that would hopefully not see a repeat of inter-communal violence. Both died young and unexpectedly, however, and their programmes for nation rebuilding were continued by younger men whose goals were not always identical with theirs, nor as profound.