David Laird was born on March 12, 1833, in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island.

He was a journalist, editor, newspaper publisher, politician, lieutenant-governor, and Indian commissioner. He was educated at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Tutor, N.S. In 1859, he founded and edited the leading Liberal journal in P.E.I. In 1873, he took part in the negotiations to incorporate P.E.I. into Confederation, won a seat in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and was made Minister of the Interior (1873-1876). In 1874, he paved the way for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and Dominion Telegraph by negotiating the Qu'Appelle Lakes Treaty (Treaty 4) with local First Nations groups in southern Saskatchewan. In 1876, his department created the Indian Act. He was appointed 1st Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories (1876-1881) as well as superintendent of Indian Affairs. He used his position as Lieutenant-Governor to secure funding to develop local schools and pay for public works. He negotiated and presided over several other treaties with Indigenous peoples. In 1881, he returned to P.E.I. to run again for parliament in the 1882 election. After his defeat, he served as editor of the Charlottetown Patriot until 1889. From 1909 to 1914 he was an adviser to the Indian Affairs Department at Ottawa.

In 1864, he married Mary Louise Owen (1833–1895). He remarried Sarah Tynan (1858–1911). He died on January 12, 1914, in Ottawa, Ontario.