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Dries van Agt

Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later its successor party, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Van Agt was known for his abilities as a skillful debater and negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major public sector and civil service reforms and further reducing the deficit following the recession in the 1980s. Van Agt continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he suffered a major stroke in May 2019 which forced him to undergo rehabilitation. He held the distinction as the oldest living and earliest serving former prime minister following the death of Piet de Jong in July 2016, until his own death in February 2024.

Early life
Andreas Antonius Maria van Agt was born in Geldrop in the Netherlands Province of North Brabant in a Roman Catholic family. After receiving his diploma Gymnasium-A at the Augustinianum he studied at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, where he received his Doctorate in Law in 1955. After graduating, he practiced law in Eindhoven until 1957, after which he worked in the office of legal and business affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries until 1962. From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Ministry of Justice.

Minister and deputy prime minister

Van Agt entered politics as a member of the Catholic People's Party, which merged with the other two major Christian Democratic parties in 1980 to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). From 1968 to 1971, Van Agt was Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. From 1971 to 1973, he was Minister of Justice in the government of Barend Biesheuvel. He caused outrage when he tried to pardon the last three Nazi war criminals still in Dutch prisons (known as The Breda Four) in 1972. From 1973 to 1977 he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice in the government of Joop den Uyl.

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In 1976, Van Agt was elected the first Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, then still a federation of the three religious parties Christian Historical Union, Catholic People's Party and Anti-Revolutionary Party, which first ran in 1977 with a united list (the merger followed in 1980). With Van Agt as top candidate, the Christian Democratic Appeal reversed in 1977 years of decline to return to power.

Prime minister in the Cabinet Van Agt I
In the parliamentary elections of May 1977 the Labour Party obtained their largest number of seats, so a second Den Uyl coalition looked likely. However, the tension between the Catholic People's Party and the Labour Party in the last reign, combined with the fact that a coalition between Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy was possible, the talks failed after a period of seven months. Eventually Van Agt negotiated a deal with Hans Wiegel, leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. From 19 December 1977 to 11 September 1981 Van Agt was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the Cabinet Van Agt I.

Prime minister in the Cabinet Van Agt II
In 1981, the Christian Democratic Appeal, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Labour Party lost parliamentary seats, so a continuation of a Christian Democratic Appeal-People's Party for Freedom and Democracy coalition was not possible. Van Agt, leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, was forced to go in coalition with the Labour Party. Also Democrats 66 (which, under Jan Terlouw gained a significant number of seats) participated in the coalition talks, after three months of difficult negotiations that resulted in the Cabinet Van Agt II (11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982). In this composition Van Agt worked with Joop den Uyl again as Den Uyl was made Deputy Prime Minister and "super minister" of Social Affairs and Employment. The characterological and political differences led to several divisions, and in May 1982 the government fell.

The personal strife between Van Agt and Den Uyl were so deteriorated that when Den Uyl died from a brain tumor in 1987, Van Agt was not invited to the memorial by the family. Den Uyl's wife Liesbeth argued that Van Agt had prevented the second Den Uyl coalition from forming in 1977.

Prime minister in the Cabinet Van Agt III
The caretaker government went through as a minority cabinet, with only ministers from the parties Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66, in the Cabinet Van Agt III. For replacing the six Labour Party ministers, five new Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66 ministers were in place, while van Agt in the cabinet, as well as being prime minister was also Minister of Foreign Affairs.

New parliamentary elections were organized for September 1982. Although Van Agt, by this point was worn out, he was persuaded again to be Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal but shortly after the election he withdrew as a candidate for prime minister and was succeeded by Ruud Lubbers.

Diplomat
Dries van Agt served as Ambassador of the European Community to Japan from 1987 to 1990 and to the United States from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1996, he was a Visiting Professor of International Relations at the University of Kyoto.

Professor
Until his death, Van Agt was Prime Counsellor for the International Forum for Justice and Peace, a foundation under Dutch law, registered at the Chamber of Commerce in Amsterdam. Chaired by retired international businessman Ben Smoes, they are currently focused on justice and peace in regard to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Activism
Van Agt lectured in May 2006 in Cairo at the invitation of the Egyptian electronic magazine Arab-West Report about great changes in the cultural climate of north-western Europe in the past decades, becoming more hostile to religion, including Islam. Muslims, he argued, need to understand those changes to be able to respond better to European criticism on Islam and the Muslim world.

Van Agt also spoke against the Council of State in Egypt for continuous delay in granting the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) the NGO status. He met with prominent figures in Egypt to persuade them to do so. The Egyptian Council of State, after van Agt's visit to Cairo in 2006, ruled on 18 February 2007 that the center should be recognized as an NGO under Egyptian law, ending its three-year struggle to obtain this status. Egypt is known for its reluctance in granting NGO status to discourage political participation. Cornelis Hulsman, a Dutch sociologist, the editor-in-chief of Arab-West Report, and the head of CAWU, stated that van Agt's effort significantly impacted the realization of their goals, which usually requires a lengthy amount of time and scrutiny in its political purposes.

For some years he took an outspoken stance regarding the Middle East, resulting in a fierce criticism of the policies undertaken by the government of Israel with regard to the Palestinians. When in office, van Agt was a staunch supporter of Israel, but after he stepped down in 1982 he changed his mind. According to his own words an important turning point was a visit at the late nineties at Bethlehem University on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He accused Israel of "state terrorism" and turning the Palestinian Authority territories into "bantustans".

In 2009, Van Agt founded The Rights Forum, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting a “just and sustainable Dutch and European policy regarding the Palestine/Israel issue”. In 2012, he said that Jews should have a state in Germany instead of Israel. In September 2016, in reference to the visit of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to the Netherlands, van Agt argued that the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the building of settlements there constituted a war crime under the Rome Statute and suggested that Netanyahu should have been sent to the International Criminal Court.

Personal life and death
Van Agt was known for his use of archaic language and complicated phrasing, as well as for his love for cycling. He married Eugenie Krekelberg in 1958, and they had three children and seven grandchildren, including professional cyclist Eva van Agt. In 2012, he joined the Advisory Board of the International Museum for Family History. Van Agt lived in Heilig Landstichting, near Nijmegen, until his death.

Van Agt and his wife, after choosing euthanasia, died on 5 February 2024, three days after his 93rd birthday. According to family, the couple died holding hands. Van Agt had previously suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage while giving a speech in 2019.

title: Dries van Agt


text:
Joop den Uyl

Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl (9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987) was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Den Uyl studied Economics at the University of Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of Economic Affairs from February 1942 until May 1945 and as a journalist and editor for Het Parool and Vrij Nederland from May 1945 until January 1949. Den Uyl served as director of the Wiardi Beckman Foundation from January 1949 until June 1963. Den Uyl became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the number of seats was raised from 100 to 150 seats following the election of 1956 serving from 6 November 1956 until 5 June 1963 as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Economics. Den Uyl was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cals Cabinet, taking office on 14 April 1965. After Labour Leader Anne Vondeling unexpectedly announced he was stepping down, Den Uyl announced his candidacy and was selected as his successor as Leader on 13 September 1966. In the election of 1967 Den Uyl served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and became Parliamentary leader, taking office on 23 February 1967. In the election of 1972 Den Uyl again served as Lijsttrekker and after a long cabinet formation formed the Den Uyl Cabinet and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands, taking office on 11 May 1973.

The Cabinet collapsed on 22 March 1977 following years of tensions in the ruling coalition. During the election of 1977 Den Uyl served as Lijsttrekker but following a difficult cabinet formation failed to create a new coalition. Den Uyl left office following the installation of the First Van Agt Cabinet on 19 December 1977 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader. For the election of 1981 Den Uyl again served as Lijsttrekker and following a cabinet formation with his successor— the leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, Dries van Agt— formed the Second Van Agt Cabinet with Den Uyl appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, taking office on 11 September 1981. The cabinet fell just seven months into its term and was replaced with the caretaker Third Van Agt Cabinet, with Den Uyl resigning on 29 May 1982. For the election of 1982 Den Uyl again served as Lijsttrekker and returned to the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader, taking office on 16 September 1982. For the election of 1986 Den Uyl once again served as Lijsttrekker but shortly thereafter announced he was stepping down as Leader on 21 July 1986 and endorsed former trade union leader Wim Kok as his successor though continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher. In October 1987 Den Uyl was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and died just three months later at the age of 68.

Den Uyl was known for his abilities as a skillful debater and as an idealistic and determined leader. During his premiership, his cabinet were responsible for major social reforms and dealing with several major crises such as the 1973 oil crisis, the Lockheed scandal, Moluccans incidents and the fallout of the Yom Kippur War. He holds the distinction as leading the most left-wing Dutch cabinet, and his premiership is seen as divisive with both scholars and the public, from considering him to have been average to him having been one of the best Prime Ministers since World War II.

Early life

Johannes Marten den Uijl was born on 9 August 1919 in the town of Hilversum. He was born in a Calvinist Reformed family. His father, Johannes den Uyl, was a shopkeeper and a basket weaver who died when Den Uyl was 10. Den Uyl attended the Christian Lyceum, the modern-day Comenius College, in Hilversum from 1931 to 1936. Following this he studied Economics at the University of Amsterdam. During this period in his life he left the church. In 1942 he attained the doctorandus degree. Until 1945 he was a civil servant at the National Bureau for Prices of Chemical Products, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. During that period he was part of the underground newspaper group that published the clandestine Het Parool. After World War II, Den Uyl worked for Het Parool, Vrij Nederland and other former resistance papers. From January 1949 to 1963 he was the head of the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, the think tank of the social democratic Labour Party. In 1953, at the invitation of the American government, Den Uyl stayed in the United States for a few months, gaining an appreciation of the American experience.

Political career
In 1953 Den Uyl was elected to the municipal council of Amsterdam and in 1956 he was elected to the House of Representatives. In 1963 he became municipal administrator for economic affairs in Amsterdam, resigning his parliamentary seat. He resigned that post in 1965 to become Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cals cabinet. As the responsible minister, he decided to close the uneconomic coal mines in Limburg, causing high local unemployment. Following the parliamentary elections of 1967, he became leader of the Labour Party in parliament.

Den Uyl's Labour Party won the 1972 election in alliance with the progressive liberal Democrats 66 and radical Christian Political Party of Radicals, but failed to achieve a majority in parliament. After lengthy negotiations, he formed Den Uyl cabinet with the Christian democratic Catholic People's Party and Anti-Revolutionary Party. This cabinet faced many problems. An early problem was the 1973 oil boycott following the Dutch support of Israel in the Yom Kippur war. Den Uyl said in a speech on national television that "things would never return to the way they were" and implemented fuel rationing and a ban on Sunday driving.

Between 1973 and 1977, the country's economic situation turned ugly. The government's budget deficit increased tenfold, inflation approached 10 percent, the unemployment rate doubled, and the current account went from positive to negative – the latter a critical problem in a country that rises or falls on foreign trade. Despite economic difficulties, however, real incomes grew from 1973-1977. According to a 1978 budget memorandum, the real disposable income of the “modal worker” (a statistical concept, as noted by one study, ‘similar to the OECD's "average production worker" but at a somewhat lower level of earnings’) went up by 10.3%, for minimum wage earners by 17.8%, and retired people by 27.3%. The government also enacted a wide range of progressive social reforms, such as significant increases in welfare payments, the indexation of benefits and the minimum wage to contractual private sector wage developments and a system of rent rebates (1975), Kindergartens and primary schools with high percentages of children from lower income families were provided with extra facilities (including more money and teachers) and cooperation was stimulated between schools and social and cultural institutions. In addition, 3 local compensatory education and family involvement projects that had been initiated in the early Seventies in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam were subsidized by the Ministry of Education under the terms of a new educational development policy. The Primary Education Act of October 1974 gave more freedom to school heads regarding the programming of the curriculum, and an Act of June 1974 made supplementary benefits available to unemployed persons who accepted lower paid- work, with those over 45 receiving supplements "amounting to 100% of their former wage during the first six months; 95% in the next six months, and 85% during the second, third and fourth year; those under 45 receive supplements amounting to 90% during six months, 85% during the next two years." In addition, a law of June 1976 enabled employees aged sixty, two years after the first date of receipt of benefits (WWV scheme), to continue receiving them until the age of sixty-five. The purpose of this legislation was to improve the financial circumstances of older employees who are unemployed for a long time. In August 1976, job protection was introduced during pregnancy and for 12 weeks following childbirth. The number of years of full compulsory education were increased, and an Act on equal pay in the private sector was introduced. In addition, investments were carried out in social services, such as home care services for families.

In 1975, a rent readjustment grant was adopted “to assist households that were capable and desirous of living in better accommodations, but who were intimidated by the sudden increase in rent and the burden of moving costs.” Various types of tenants were eligible, such as those leaving a slum dwelling for a higher rent unit (“slum clearance”). From 1 January 1975, the elderly “who rely solely or almost exclusively on the AOW pension have been granted an additional reduction of NLG 18 per month on the premium for health insurance for the elderly.” Also, with retroactive effect from 1 July 1975, “a new regulation for relocation and refurbishment costs applies to elderly people who want to move from a cheaper to a more expensive home.” In 1975 the social assistance standard was again structurally increased for incomplete families. In 1974 and 1975, the social assistance standards structurally increased more than the net minimum wage. In 1975, national legislation was introduced for residential homes (previously, homes for the elderly had been a responsibility of local authorities).

Taking into account the fact that the dilapidation of private (rental) homes can seriously impede the efficient implementation of urban renewal plans, a regulation was drawn up at the end of 1976 in connection with this “that provides for the granting of financial support to municipalities and approved institutions when they purchase homes from private individuals with the aim of providing the residents of such homes with a reasonable level of living enjoyment for a considerable period of time after a major improvement. For larger municipalities in particular, this aid measure can be an incentive to purchase homes from private owners.” From 1976 onwards, “schemes have been in place under which grants have been provided for the adaptation of accommodation for the disabled.” In 1976, a separate subsidy scheme was introduced for young single persons. In 1976, a law provided a cash benefit equal to the old-age benefit for disabled heads of families (including the unemployed and self-employed) and disabled single persons aged 17 and over, including those disabled since childhood. Previously, only employed persons for eligible for these benefits. The same law provided for rehabilitation benefits for homemakers. This law also provided for special transport, retraining and reimbursement of extra expenditures incurred as a result of handicaps “on the condition that these services are not provided by other social security legislation.”

A regulation was introduced in September 1973 providing for the employment of persons "for whom it is difficult to find employment and who have been in prolonged unemployment." In January 1974, a statutory minimum wage for young people between the ages of 15 and 22 was introduced, and in March 1974 the insurance scheme for wage and salary earners was extended to cover the costs of physiotherapy treatment "where this has been prescribed by a doctor." Under a decree of 19 July 1974 unemployed civil servants and their survivors were entitled to certain benefits. The National Standardization Decree of 3 July 1974 provided rules for the provision of assistance for generally necessary subsistence costs. According to one report "In 1974 the National Assistance Decree came into effect. A social minimum now applied to various types of households: a standard amount that was considered sufficient to cover the general necessary costs of existence." The decree established general rules for the determination of the social assistance level. Net benefits according to the ABW (Public Assistance Act) were fixed at 100 % of the net minimum wage for a married worker aged 23 and elder, and the minimum benefits for breadwinners in the social insurance schemes were finally equalized to minimal wage in 1975. As a result of this decree, “the basic standard of social assistance benefit for a couple without children became equal to the net minimum wage of the married employee without children.” According to one study "The National Standards Decree (BLN) from 1974 was of great importance. In addition to the fact that the BLN contains rules for determining assistance with the general necessary costs of existence, it also meant that the level of benefits was raised to the level of the legal minimum wage. The BLN severely limited the policy freedom of municipalities in the implementation of the law. Nevertheless, there remained uncertainty about the interpretation of the concept of general subsistence costs. The BLN only contains a general description, namely: the costs that cannot be regarded as special necessary subsistence costs determined by individual circumstances." In 1974 the AOW was linked to the minimum wage and therefore became welfare-fixed. After the ABW (Public Assistance Act) was linked to the minimum wage in 1974 lone parents were allowed to keep about a third of their earnings in addition to the benefit, up to a maximum of 25% of the minimum wage. In 1974, the holiday allowance became part of the national standardization and was therefore included in the National Standardization Decree. As noted by one study, "The fixed minimum wage could best serve as a guideline for this. That goal was definitively achieved in 1974: social assistance benefits, the AOW, the widow's benefit and the basic benefits of the Sickness Benefits Act, WAO, WW, WWV all amount to one hundred percent of the net minimum wage, around a thousand guilders per year." Also, as noted by another study, "Partly under the influence of the increase in unemployment since the oil crisis of 1973, a hardship clause was added to the Social Security Act in July 1974 through a change in the National Standards Decree. As a result, you can claim benefits without your entire baptismal certificate being examined by social work. From 1975, everyone from the age of sixteen without a fixed income is entitled to a social assistance benefit." A modest amount of money was released for self-employed persons as an old-age provision through the National Group Regulation on the release of old-age provision for special groups (Stb. 1974, 825). As noted by one study, the National Group Scheme for the release of old-age provision for special groups (Stb. 1974, 825) “envisaged exemption from (part of) the assets of a former self-employed person in the means test for social assistance.”

In September 1975, a regulation on the promotion of vocational training for young people was introduced, aimed at "a great number of young people who, as a result of the present educational system, depend on on-the-job training within the framework of the Apprenticeship Law." The chances of obtaining an individual rent subsidy were also significantly increased, while an Act of June 1975 amended a number of existing Acts "with a view to introducing changes regarding the organisation and the districts of factory inspection and the inspection of ports and dangerous machinery,” and also conferred legislative powers on the Minister of Social Affairs under the Act "concerning the loading and unloading of ocean-going vessels and extended the scope of the Silicosis Act." Early retirement measures were also implemented, with the Den Yyl government being the first administration to do this.

The Collective Redundancy (Notification) Act of 1976 imposed an obligation on employers (who intend to collectively dismiss employees) "to give written notice of this intention to the relevant trade unions for consultation," while that same year consultative works councils were replaced by powerful ones modelled after the German works councils. Also in 1976, a law was passed forbidding dismissal upon pregnancy or marriage for all women. In 1976, a Criminal Injuries Compensation fund was set up. Extra money was also spent on urban renewal, while the arrangement “that allows tenants to get used to a higher rent for a renovated home has been improved.” Various measures were undertaken in the field of road safety, such as compulsory moped helmets and seat belts and the establishment of an alcohol test (breath test). Subsidies were also granted to experiments with Bureaus for Legal Aid.

A February 1976 regulation on accidents in nuclear installations provided for interministerial coordination on measures to be taken "in the event of accidents and for the preparation of an emergency plan." A law of December 1976 relaxed the conditions for exemption from national insurance contributions or entitlement to pay reduced contributions, and also extended entitlement to orphans' pensions "to illegitimate children whose mothers are dead and who have not been recognised by their fathers." The Asbestos Decree of April 1977 prohibited the storage and use of crocidolite (blue asbestos) and materials or products containing crocidolite and also prohibited "the spraying of asbestos or materials or products containing asbestos and their use for thermal insulation or for acoustic, preservative or decorative purposes." In September 1977, regulations were issued "regarding the conditions under which young persons of 16 and over may exceptionally drive agricultural tractors." In May 1977, a subsidy scheme for the placing of handicapped persons was introduced.

In 1977, the Den Uyl cabinet fell due to a conflict between Den Uyl and the Catholic People's Party Minister of Justice Dries van Agt. The Labour Party entered the subsequent election under the banner "Vote for the Prime Minister". The Labour Party won by a landslide, receiving over 33% percent of the votes, a relatively large share in the divided politics of the Netherlands at that time, and 53 seats. Labour's coalition partner Democrats 66 also made gains, from 6 to 8 seats. However, its other coalition partner, the Political Party of Radicals, lost nearly all its seats, making it impossible for Den Uyl to form a new government that he could count on to support him in parliament. More than 200 days after the election, the Christian Democratic Appeal (a new party that was formed by Den Uyl's former coalition partners, the Catholic People's Party and the Anti-Revolutionary Party, joined by the smaller Christian Historical Union) formed a cabinet with the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, supported by a small majority of 77 seats (out of a total of 150).

After being opposition leader from 1977 to 1981, Den Uyl returned to government in 1981. The Labour Party formed a coalition with the Christian Democratic Appeal and the Democrats 66. Den Uyl became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Affairs and Employment. Van Agt, by now Den Uyl's nemesis, led this cabinet. The cabinet was in constant internal conflict and fell after eight months. The Labour Party won the snap election of 1982, but could not agree on a new coalition with the Christian Democratic Appeal. As a result, Den Uyl returned to parliament and led the Labour Party in opposition until 1986. As leader of the main opposition party, Den Uyl, always a soft-spoken Atlanticist, provided cover for the government's controversial decision to place NATO cruise missiles on Dutch soil. In turn, this decision, and a similar one by the Belgian government, satisfied one of the West German conditions for the placement of cruise missiles and Pershing II missiles in West Germany.

Family and later life
On 30 August 1944, Den Uyl married Liesbeth den Uyl, née Van Vessem (18 June 1924 – 30 September 1990). They had three sons and four daughters. Of those the eldest Saskia Noorman-den Uyl became a member of parliament for the Labour Party herself serving from 1994 until 2006. Xander den Uyl became a leading figure in ABVAKABO, one of the Dutch labour unions and serves as Member of the Provincial-Council of North Holland for the Labour Party since 2011.

After the elections of 1986, in which the Labour Party won 5 seats but failed to retain its position as largest party, Den Uyl was succeeded as leader of the Labour Party by Wim Kok.

Death
On 24 October 1987, the VU University Medical Center announced that Den Uyl had become terminally ill. He died exactly two months later, on Christmas Eve 1987, aged 68, of a brain tumor.

Quotes
"Twee dingen:..." ("Two things:..." In interviews, many of Den Uyl's answers started with these two words, sending a signal to the listener to drop any expectation of a simple yes or no.)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Joop den Uyl


text:
Barend Biesheuvel

Barend Willem Biesheuvel (5 April 1920 – 29 April 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 6 July 1971 until 11 May 1973.

Biesheuvel studied law at the Free University Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Laws degree and worked as a civil servant for the Provincial-executive of North Holland from September 1945 until January 1952 and as trade association executive for the Christian Farmers and Gardeners Association (CBTB) from January 1952 until July 1959 and as chairman from August 1956. Biesheuvel became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the number of seats was raised from 100 to 150 seats following the election of 1956 taking office on 6 November 1956 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Agriculture, Local Government Affairs and Kingdom Relations. Biesheuvel was also selected as a Member of the European Parliament and dual served taking office on 7 March 1961. After Party Leader Sieuwert Bruins Slot announced his retirement Biesheuvel served as one of the Lijsttrekkers (top candidates) for the election of 1963 and following the election was selected as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 5 June 1963. Following a cabinet formation Biesheuvel was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries with the responsibility for Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs in the Cabinet Marijnen taking office on 24 July 1963. The Cabinet Marijnen fell on 27 February 1965 and was replaced by the Cabinet Cals with Biesheuvel continuing his offices. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra with Biesheuvel again retaining his functions. For the election of 1967 Biesheuvel served as Lijsttrekker but following a difficult cabinet formation failed to achieve a coalition and returned to the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader taking office on 23 February 1967. For the election of 1971 Biesheuvel again served as Lijsttrekker and after a successful cabinet formation formed the Cabinet Biesheuvel I and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands taking office on 6 July 1971.

The Cabinet fell on 19 July 1972 just a year into its term and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Biesheuvel continuing as Prime Minister. For the election of 1972 Biesheuvel served once again as Lijsttrekker but the following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition led by Labour Leader Joop den Uyl. Biesheuvel left office following the installation of the Cabinet Den Uyl on 11 May 1973 and announced his retirement and stepped down as Leader on 15 May 1973.

Biesheuvel retired from active politics at just 53 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active as a lobbyist for the European Union advocating for more European integration. Biesheuvel was known for his abilities as skillful manager and effective Debater. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major public sector reforms by stimulating further deregulation and endorsing more privatization. Biesheuvel continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 81 from cardiovascular disease. He holds the distinction as leading the last cabinet in which the prime minister was not from the largest party in the coalition, and his premiership is consistently considered both by scholars and the public to have been below average.

Early life

Barend Willem Biesheuvel was born on 5 April 1920 in Haarlemmerliede in the Province of North Holland in a Reformed family, the son of Arie Biesheuvel (born 21 January 1883 in Haarlemmerliede – died 21 May 1952 in Haarlemmerliede) and Johanna Margaretha "Antje" Troost (born 22 February 1881 in Sloten – died 12 December 1955 in Fijnaart). Biesheuvel had three brothers and two sisters. After completing his secondary education at local schools, he graduated in law at the Free University of Amsterdam in September 1945. For the next two years Biesheuvel worked in Alkmaar as secretary to the Food Commissioner for the Province of North Holland. In 1947 he became secretary to the Foreign Division of the Agricultural Society (now the Agricultural Board). In 1952 Biesheuvel became general secretary of the Christian Farmers and Gardeners Association of the Netherlands (CBTB) and in 1959 chairman of that organisation. From the same year he was also a member of the Agricultural Board, the Labour Foundation and the boards of the Centrale Raifeissen Bank and Heidemij.

Politics
Between 1956 and 1963 he represented the Anti-Revolutionary Party in the House of Representatives (the lower house of parliament). From 1957 to 1961 he held a seat on the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and from 1961 to 1963 in the European Parliament.

In the successive administrations headed by Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra between 24 July 1963 and 5 April 1967 he was Deputy Prime Minister with additional responsibility for matters concerning Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

In 1967 he returned to the House of Representatives and became leader of the parliamentary Anti-Revolutionary Party. During the same period he also chaired the Shipbuilding Board and the Committee on Government Information Reform.

From 1971 to 1973 Biesheuvel was prime minister of the Netherlands.

After politics
Following his political career, Biesheuvel went on to occupy many other positions in the public and private sectors. Among other things, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the National Investment Bank, a member of the supervisory boards of OGEM and KLM, and chaired the working party on the Netherlands Antilles, the national advisory committee on the relationship between the electorate and policy-making, the Provisional Council for Transport, Public Works and Water Management and the Interministerial Coordinating Committee on North Sea Affairs (ICONA).

Personal life
On 22 November 1945, Biesheuvel married his longtime partner, Wilhelmina Jacoba "Mies" Meuring (born 7 August 1919). They had two daughters and one son. Mies Meuring died on 17 January 1989 at the age of 69. Barend Biesheuvel died in a hospital in Haarlem from cardiovascular disease on 29 April 2001 at the age of 81. Biesheuvel and his wife were buried at the main cemetery in Bloemendaal.

title: Barend Biesheuvel


text:
Piet de Jong

Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician and naval officer who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1967 to 1971. He was a member of the now-defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), later merged into the current-day Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

De Jong applied at the Royal Naval College in Den Helder and graduated as an ensign in the Navy and joined the Submarine Service. During World War II he served on the submarine HNLMS O 24 as First Officer and later as commanding officer and saw action in both the Battle of the Atlantic and the Pacific War. After the War De Jong served as a staff officer and commanded a frigate and destroyer. After the election of 1959 De Jong was unexpectedly appointed as State Secretary for Defence tasked with Naval Affairs taking office on 25 June 1959. After the election of 1963 De Jong was appointed as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Marijnen taking office on 24 July 1963. The Cabinet Marijnen fell 19 months into its term and was replaced by the Cabinet Cals with De Jong continuing his office. The Cabinet Cals fell just one year later and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra and De Jong retained his position. After the election of 1967 De Jong was elected as Member of the House of Representatives on 23 February 1967. Following several failed coalition attempts De Jong was asked to lead a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation formed the Cabinet De Jong and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands taking office on 5 April 1967.

For the election of 1971 the Catholics declined to nominate De Jong as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and shortly thereafter De Jong announced that he wouldn't stand for the election. De Jong left office following the installation of the Cabinet Biesheuvel I on 6 July 1971. De Jong continued to be active in politics and was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1971 and became Parliamentary leader serving from 11 May 1971 until 17 September 1974.

De Jong retired from active politics at 59 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several State commission (Netherlands) and councils and as a diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government. De Jong was known for his abilities as an effective team leader and skillful negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinet was responsible for several major reforms to education, social security, taxes, overseeing improvement in relations with the former Dutch East Indies, handling the Counterculture of the 1960s, the fallout of the Vietnam and dealing with several major crises such as the Moluccans incidents. De Jong continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death in July 2016 at the age of 101. He holds the distinction as the first prime minister after World War II to complete a full term without any internal conflicts and holds the record as the second longest-lived Prime Minister, after Willem Drees, at 101 years, 140 days. His premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been one of the best in Dutch history.

Early life
Petrus Jozef Sietse de Jong was born on 3 April 1915 in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands province of Gelderland in a Roman Catholic family that originated from Friesland, as the sixth of seven children of Joännes Jans de Jong (24 February 1878 – 28 November 1931), a railroad superintendent, and Gijsberta Adriana Schouten (29 December 1877 – 30 June 1957). After leaving secondary school, de Koninklijke Hogereburgerschool (now de Koninklijke Scholengemeenschap), he joined the Royal Netherlands Navy as a midshipman in 1931 and subsequently attended the Royal Netherlands Naval College in Den Helder. In 1934, he received his commission as a sub-lieutenant.

World War II
After his graduation in 1934, he served a short time in the Dutch East Indies before he entered service in the Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service. On 10 May 1940 Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands and the government fled to London to escape the German occupation. De Jong then an Lieutenant junior grade was giving a battlefield promotion and command of the nearly finished submarine HNLMS O 24 and was ordered to bring the submarine to the HMNB Portsmouth naval base in Portsmouth, England. De Jong successfully navigated the HNLMS O 24 through English Channel and was awarded the Bronze Cross for bravery on 16 July 1940. De Jong served as First Officer on the HNLMS O 24 from July 1940 until October 1944 fighting in the Battle of the Atlantic from July 1940 until July 1942 when the HNLMS O 24 was transferred to the British Eastern Fleet to fight in the Pacific War. On 8 July 1943 De Jong was awarded the Bronze Cross for bravery a second time. On 25 October 1944 De Jong was promoted to lieutenant commander and was appointment as commanding officer of the HNLMS O 24. Under his command the HNLMS O 24 initially continued in the Pacific War. Following the end of World War II De Jong continued to serve in the Royal Netherlands Navy holding several administrative functions. On 14 November 1951 De Jong was appointment as commanding officer of the frigate HNLMS De Zeeuw and on 20 October 1951 De Jong was transferred to the Allied Command Channel at the HMNB Portsmouth naval base in Portsmouth, England as a senior staff officer. In April 1953 De Jong was promoted to commander and in March 1955 De Jong was appointment as chief of staff to the Inspector General of the Navy Lieutenant admiral Prince Bernhard and as chief military adjutant and senior aide-de-camp to Queen Juliana. In October 1958 De Jong was promoted to captain and appointment as commanding officer of the destroyer HNLMS Gelderland.

State Secretary
On 7 June 1959, during a NATO naval exercises near Scotland, De Jong received an unexpected telegram with the orders that he was to report the next day to Vice Admiral Leendert Brouwer, the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy himself, De Jong was summoned because of his "appointment" as State Secretary for Defence in the new Cabinet de Quay. De Jong was airlifted from HNLMS Gelderland by helicopter and transported to the aircraft carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman. It was the second time that De Jong was asked for a political office, for the Dutch general election of 1956 he was approached by Carl Romme the leader of the Catholic People's Party for a seat in the House of Representatives but De Jong respectfully declined his offer, and stated: "I don't have political ambitions, I want to become an admiral".

During that time the independence of the Royal Netherlands Navy in the Armed forces of the Netherlands was in question, the main focus of the discussion was the new command structure for all the service branches. Both a horizontal-structure and vertical-structure had their proponents and opponents, the Royal Netherlands Navy was historically a proponent of a vertical-structure but the horizontal-structure received increasing support, including from the then Minister of War and the Navy Kees Staf. During the cabinet formation for the Cabinet de Quay the decision was made to go with the horizontal-structure and the first step was made with the combining of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy. With the combining of the ministries a serious efficiency problem in the Ministry of War was discovered, while the Ministry of the Navy was thought to be in an excellent administrative condition.

After his meeting with Admiral Brouwer, De Jong reported to the incoming Minister of Defence Sidney J. van den Bergh, who formally asked De Jong to become the new State Secretary for Defence. De Jong was given a few days to think it over and he used that time to speak with Carl Romme. De Jong informed him that he was not a member of the Catholic People's Party but Romme respond by saying: "You are not a member of a different party? No, but you are a Roman Catholic? Then we will we see you as one of us." Romme did advise De Jong to become a member of the Catholic People's Party after six months. On 11 June 1959, De Jong reported back to Van den Bergh and was told about the new horizontal-structure, De Jong who was a proponent of a vertical-structure was left with a few remarks. The next day the meeting was continued in the presence of the incoming Secretary-General for the Ministry of Defence Duyverman who was going to be responsible for all financial and budgetary affairs for the Ministry of Defence. De Jong objected, he thought he could not be politically responsible as the State Secretary for Defence if he wasn't responsible for all financial affairs for his own department, Van den Bergh became irritated with De Jongs position on the matter and the meeting was adjourned for 16 June 1959.

Minister
Immediately thereafter, De Jong served as Minister of Defence in the successive Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra cabinets.

Prime Minister
From 5 April 1967 to 6 July 1971, he was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the De Jong cabinet. His Cabinet was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands since World War II that served a full four-year term without crises.

His cabinet was confronted with a demand for democratic reforms in the society and it decided to democratise colleges and universities after the famous Maagdenhuisbezetting. Plans were made to modernise politics by establishing an electoral system with districts or a chosen prime minister, but these plans were not implemented. Meanwhile, a pay pause due to the decision of employers and employees to raise wages was partly revoked after anti-government demonstrations and strikes. The Minister of Economic Affairs Leo de Block resigned, officially as a protest against the wage rise in the metal industry, but another reason was his slow reaction to the inflation and rising prices after the introduction of Value added tax. More unrest took shape in demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Internationally, relations with Indonesia improved, resulting in a visit by president Suharto which was, however, overshadowed by the occupation of the Indonesian embassy by Moluccans. The Soviet Union invasion in Czechoslovakia was seen as a reason to increase the defence budget. During his term as Prime Minister of the Netherlands De Jong met with numeral state leaders, including then President Richard Nixon, Presidents of France Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. He was present in the hospital when Prince Claus announced the birth of his son Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange on 27 April 1967.

After serving as Prime Minister of the Netherlands De Jong became a member of the Senate, where he served from 1971 to 1974 and as the Parliamentary leader in the Senate. In 1972, he was passed by the Cabinet Biesheuvel II for the position of Vice President of the Council of State In 1973, he passed the mayoralty of Eindhoven.

After politics
Following the end of his active political career, De Jong occupied many posts in industry and seats on numerous supervisory boards. In December 1990 he was selected to lead a diplomatic mission to Iraq to free Dutch hostages, but ultimately the mission was cancelled.

On 25 March 2010, De Jong, still visibly spirituous and active, gave a speech at Nieuwspoort (Newsgate) about the publication of the biography of former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the 5th Secretary General of NATO Joseph Luns. On 24 April 2010 during the annual Christian Democratic Appeal party conference, De Jong spoke about former Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Party party leader Wouter Bos and his actions which led to the fall of the Cabinet Balkenende IV.

After the Dutch general election of 2010, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) suffered a disappointing election result, and Informateur Ivo Opstelten announced the formation of a new centre-right coalition cabinet composed of the winner of the election, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and De Jong's own CDA, but with the support of the Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders. De Jong spoke against this support and said that the PVV's stand on freedom of religion was a deal-breaker.

On 30 March 2012, De Jong and several other prominent CDA members, including fellow former prime minister Ruud Lubbers, former Ministers of Foreign Affairs Hans van den Broek, Pieter Kooijmans and Ben Bot, former Ministers for Development Cooperation Piet Bukman and Agnes van Ardenne, and former ministers Wim Deetman and Ernst Hirsch Ballin and former State Secretary Karien van Gennip all signed a petition of disapproval for the proposed cuts to the budget of international development by the Cabinet Rutte I. De Jong responded by announcing that he would leave the CDA if the cuts were implemented. He expressed satisfaction about the fall of the Cabinet Rutte I in 2012, calling it a "lame cabinet".

De Jong was present at the ascension of Willem-Alexander to the Dutch throne on 30 April 2013. He was prime minister at the time of the King's birth. At the age of 98 he was the oldest person attending the ceremony.

On 1 December 2013, De Jong and fellow former prime ministers Dries van Agt and Ruud Lubbers were present at the presentation of the book Polarisatie en hoogconjunctuur, a book about Dutch politics in the 1960s. De Jong received the first copy from incumbent prime minister Mark Rutte.

Reputation and legacy
During his time as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, he was accused of not showing enough strength and too little action when needed during the social revolution of the 1960s by some of the counterculture of that time. De Jong was frequently labelled as old-fashioned, and that old-fashioned image was reinforced by his bowler hat, which he wore frequently outside, a custom he picked up during his time living in England during World War II. In contrast the Silent majority were reported to be content with the policies of his cabinet. More than forty years later, De Jong is considered by many to have made well thought-out decisions during his time as prime minister and when needed showed enough strength with a far more progressive ideology than he was credited for at the time.

Politicians from the entire political spectrum have labelled De Jong as one of the better prime ministers of the Netherlands. In an episode of the Dutch television programme Netwerk aired in 2005, he is even labelled as perhaps the best postwar Prime Minister of the Netherlands. This view has been shared by numerous high-profile current and former Dutch politicians, including former prime minister Dries van Agt and former deputy prime minister Hans Wiegel, who praised De Jong being perhaps the best prime minister after World War II. Former Member of the Senate and Righteous Among the Nations Johan van Hulst said that of all the prime ministers he worked with in twenty-five years, De Jong was the best. On 23 March 2011, the history channel Hollanddoc devoted an episode about his life with the quote "Attention for the least-known prime minister after World War II, but perhaps the most successful: Piet de Jong" In November 2011, the second edition of his in 2001 released biography ''Van buitengaats naar Binnenhof. P.J.S. de Jong'' (From offshore to Binnenhof. P.J.S. de Jong) became well received and further enhanced his reputation: "He showed himself a team leader with perspective and humor. The ideal manager in a time of crisis of authority, polarization and social unrest."

De Jong said to Queen Juliana, for whom he had served as aide-de-camp, when he was sworn in as State Secretary for Defence, "Majesty, there you see how a person comes down in the world." (Dutch: "Majesteit, zo ziet u maar hoe een mens aan lager wal kan raken.") And in a response to a delicate question of a radio reporter, when asked what his thoughts on pornography were, he said, "As far as I know, pornography is the only working medicine against seasickness." When later a Belgian minister spoke negatively about the libertarian ideas of the Dutch on pornography, he responded, "Well, the Belgians aren't a seafaring people, are they?"

Personal
After World War II, De Jong married former resistance fighter Anna Geertruida Jacoba Henriëtte "Anneke" Bartels (8 January 1915 – 6 January 2010). At the time when they met Bartels was serving in the of the Royal Netherlands Navy. They married on 26 June 1947 and had one daughter and two sons, Maria (born 31 May 1948) Jos (born 31 August 1949) and Gijs (born 15 October 1952). Anneke Bartels died on 6 January 2010 two days before her ninety-fifth birthday after suffering from heart and lung illnesses since 2000.

Longevity
At the age of 101 years, 140 days, De Jong was the oldest living and earliest-serving former prime minister of the Netherlands and the oldest living former Member of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands overall. De Jong was the second oldest Prime Minister of the Netherlands by age after Willem Drees who lived to 101 years, 337 days.

Death
Piet de Jong died on 27 July 2016 at his home in The Hague at the age of 101. Having survived his wife by six years, De Jong was survived by his three children, eight grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.

title: Piet de Jong


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Jelle Zijlstra

Jelle Zijlstra (27 August 1918 – 23 December 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.

Zijlstra studied Economics at the Rotterdam School of Economics obtaining a Master of Economics degree and worked as a researcher and lecturer at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy in Public economics and worked as a professor of public economics at the Free University Amsterdam from October 1948 until September 1952. After the election of 1952 Zijlstra was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Drees II taking office on 2 September 1952. After Party Leader Jan Schouten announced his retirement Zijlstra was selected his successor as Leader on 23 April 1956. For the election of 1956 Zijlstra served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader taking office on 3 July 1956. Following a cabinet formation Zijlstra continued as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Drees III and stepped down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 3 October 1956. The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 and was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Beel II with Zijlstra retaining his position and also becoming Minister of Finance taking office on 22 December 1958. For the election of 1959 Zijlstra again served as Lijsttrekker. Following a cabinet formation Zijlstra continued as minister of finance in the Cabinet De Quay. In September 1962 Zijlstra announced that he wouldn't not stand for the election of 1963 and declined to serve in new cabinet. Zijlstra returned as a distinguished professor of public economics at the Free University Amsterdam and was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1963 taking office on 25 June 1963 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finance. Zijlstra also served as director of the Abraham Kuyper Foundation from August 1963 until November 1966.

Zijlstra continued to be active in politics and in September 1966 was nominated as the next president of the Central Bank. However, after the Night of Schmelzer, he was persuaded to lead an interim cabinet until the next election. Zijlstra formed the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as minister of finances, taking office on 22 November 1966. Before the election of 1967 Zijlstra indicated that he would not serve another term as prime minister and opted to accept the nomination as head of the Central Bank. Zijlstra left office following the installation of the Cabinet De Jong on 5 April 1967 and was confirmed as chief of the Central Bank, serving from 1 May 1967 until 1 January 1982.

Zijlstra retired from active politics at 63 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active in advocating for a balanced governmental budget. Zijlstra was known for his abilities as skillful manager and effective debater. Zijlstra was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 30 April 1983 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death from dementia-related illness at the age of 83. He holds the distinction as the shortest-serving Prime Minister after World War II and his premiership is therefore usually omitted both by scholars and the public in rankings but his legacy as a minister in the 1950s and 60s and later as president of the Central Bank continue to this day.

Early life
Jelle Zijlstra was born on 27 August 1918 in Oosterbierum in the province of Friesland in a Reformed family, the son of Ane Jelle Zijlstra (born 14 November 1879) and Pietje Postuma (born 6 March 1897), both of which had also been born in the village. After completing his secondary education he studied at the Netherlands School of Economics, the predecessor of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. His studies were interrupted twice: first by his period of military service and later when he had to go into hiding in 1942 after refusing to sign the loyalty oath required of students by the Nazi occupation authorities. Even so, he completed his economics degree in October 1945 as a Master of Economics.

Immediately after graduating, Zijlstra became a research assistant at the Netherlands School of Economics and was promoted a year later to senior research assistant and in 1947 to lecturer. In 1948 he was awarded a doctorate as a Doctor of Philosophy with cum laude for his thesis on the rate of circulation of money and its bearing on the value of money and monetary equilibrium. In the same year he was appointed professor of economics at the Vrije Universiteit.

Politics
Representing the Anti-Revolutionary Party, Zijlstra successively served as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Drees II, Drees III and Beel II cabinets, and as Minister of Finance in the Beel II and De Quay cabinets between 2 September 1952 and 24 July 1963.

Following his ministerial career, Zijlstra returned to the Vrije Universiteit as professor of public finance, though he also served between 1963 and 1966 as a member of the Senate. In 1973 Zijlstra became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. After the fall of the Cabinet Cals, Zijlstra headed an interim government as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance between 22 November 1966 until 5 April 1967.

From 1967 until the end of 1981 he was President of De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, and in the course of that period he was also President of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. He has sat on many boards in the public and private sectors.

Personal
On 11 March 1946 Zijlstra married his childhood sweetheart Hetty Bloksma (30 January 1921 – 19 November 2013). They had three daughters and two sons, who were born between 1947 and 1961. The last months of life were dominated by his deteriorating health, and he suffered from dementia. Jelle Zijlstra died in Wassenaar on 23 December 2001 at the age of eighty-three Zijlstra, and was buried at the cemetery of the local Reformed Church in Wassenaar. His younger brother Rinse Zijlstra (19 April 1927 – 26 September 2017) was also a member of the House of Representatives, serving from 23 February 1967 until 10 May 1971 and a Senator serving from 12 April 1983 until 13 June 1995 for the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal.

title: Jelle Zijlstra


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Willem Drees

Willem Drees Sr. (5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and historian who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 7 August 1948 to 22 December 1958.

Drees was elected to the House of Representatives for the SDAP in the 1933 general election and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for social affairs. He succeeded Willem Albarda as party leader in 1940, and following the end of World War II, Drees was appointment Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs in the national unity Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet. In February 1946, Drees was one of the co-founders of the Labour Party and became its first Leader. After the 1948 general election, Drees led his party through a successful cabinet formation with the Catholic People's Party and formed the Drees–Van Schaik cabinet, with Drees becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands, taking office on 7 August 1948.

The Drees-Van Schaik cabinet fell on 24 January 1951 and after a short cabinet formation was replaced by the first Drees cabinet, with Drees continuing as prime minister. For the 1952 general election, Drees served again as lead candidate and following a successful cabinet formation formed the second Drees cabinet and continued as prime minister for a second term. For the 1956 general election Drees once again served as lead candidate and following another cabinet formation formed the third Drees cabinet and continued as prime minister for a third term. The third Drees cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 and shortly thereafter Drees announced his retirement and would step down as Leader and would not serve another term as prime minister. Drees left office upon the installation of the caretaker second Beel cabinet on 22 December 1958.

Drees was known for his abilities as a skilful team leader and effective manager. From 1948 to 1958, his four cabinets were mostly praised and supported by the largest parties in the Netherlands. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major social reforms to social security, welfare, child benefits and education, overseeing the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies following the Indonesian National Revolution, the fallout of the annexation of former German territory and dealing with several major crises such as the North Sea flood of 1953 and Hofmans scandal.

Drees retired from active politics at 72 but continued to be active as a valued historian and prolific author and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Drees was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 22 December 1958 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death in May 1988 at the age of 101. He holds the record as the fourth longest-serving and longest-lived Prime Minister at 101 years, 337 days and his premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been one of the best in Dutch history.

Early life and education
Willem Drees was born in Amsterdam on 5 July 1886 in an orthodox reformed middle-class family. His father Johannes Michiel Drees, a banker and supporter of Abraham Kuyper, died when Drees was five years old, which left his mother Anna Sophia van Dobbenburgh, his two siblings and himself in a precarious financial situation. Drees could continue studying thanks to the support of his uncle Frits. He attended the three-year hogereburgerschool (HBS), supplemented by the two final grades of the Amsterdam Public Trade School. Drees grew up attending Sunday school and catechism, but rejected the Christian creed at the age of eighteen.

He developed an interest in political and social affairs at this time, such as the Boer Wars and the Dreyfus affair. At the Trade School, he met the sons of diamond workers who were united in the General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands, the most politically and socially developed social democratic labour union at the time. At the age of sixteen, Drees became a member of the Dutch Association for the Abolition of Alcoholic Beverages, and would remain a teetoler for the rest of his life. After attending a speech of Pieter Jelles Troelstra following his election victory in Amsterdam in December 1902, Drees became a democratic socialist. He joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) on his eighteenth birthday.

Near the conclusion of Drees' time at the Trade School, the school's principal offered Drees a position at a brewery, but he refused due to his opposition to alcoholic beverages. Instead, after obtaining his Bachelor of Accountancy degree in 1903, he started working as a bank teller for the Twentsche Bank in Amsterdam in July 1903. This work did not satisfy him, however, and he rejected an offer by his uncle Frits for a career in brokerage and insurance. In July 1906, Drees quit his job at the Twentsche Bank and pursued his passion, becoming a stenographer at the municipal council of Amsterdam, and then at the States General of the Netherlands in The Hague from January 1907 until August 1919.

Early career
Drees became a member of the executive committee of the SDAP's The Hague branch in 1910, and the following year, at the age of 25, he was elected as the branch's chairman, a position he would keep until 1931. He was first elected to the municipal council of The Hague in 1913, and would keep his seat until 1941. In 1919, Drees became the city's second social democratic alderman, alongside Willem Albarda. He was responsible for social affairs until 1931, and for finance and public works after that. In this period, Drees supported the broad coalition that governed the municipality, and was a proponent of a pragmatic, reformist course for the party; he had not supported Troelstra in his call for revolution in the Red Week in 1918. For 22 years, between 1919 and 1941, Drees also held a seat in the Provincial Council of South Holland. Drees was asked to succeed Willem Vliegen as the SDAP's national chairman in 1926 and he reluctantly accepted, but after the party's secretary and several local branches protested his nomination at the party congress of that year due to Drees' limited national fame, he withdrew his nomination. The following year, however, he became a member of the national SDAP executive, where he would remain until the party's dissolution in 1946.

Drees was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1933 general election, taking office on 9 May 1933 and simultaneously resigning as alderman of The Hague. He served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for social affairs. In the context of the Great Depression, he was a proponent of an active crisis policy of industrial planning and the execution of large-scale public works; he saw industrialisation as the structural solution to mass unemployment. Sooner than other prominent SDAP members, he advocated the devolution of the Dutch guilder. He also strongly opposed the activities of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands and other anti-democratic movements, stating in 1935 that fascists are not opponents but enemies. He likewise rejected cooperation with the Communist Party of the Netherlands. After the SDAP's parliamentary leader Willem Albarda was appointed Minister of Water Management in the second De Geer cabinet, Drees was selected to succeed him, becoming parliamentary leader on 10 August 1939. Shortly after the German invasion of the Netherlands, Albarda announced he was stepping down as party leader, and Drees was unanimously selected as his successor on 14 May 1940.

During the German occupation, Drees was taken hostage in Buchenwald concentration camp on 7 October 1940. On 7 October 1941, he was moved to Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel, but he was released on 11 May 1942 due to poor health. After his release, Drees played a prominent role as vice chairman and acting chairman of the illegal Executive Committee of the SDAP, and as a prominent participant in secret interparty consultations. In 1944, he became chairman of the Contact Commissie van de Illegaliteit and a member of the College van Vertrouwensmannen, which the government-in-exile charged with the preparation of steps to be taken at the time of liberation.

Following the end of World War II, Drees was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the national unity Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet, taking office on 25 June 1945. In February 1946, he was one of the co-founders of the Labour Party (PvdA) and became its first Leader. For the 1946 general election, Drees served as one of the lead candidates, and following the 1946 cabinet formation continued his offices in the first Beel cabinet. For the 1948 general election, Drees again served as one of the PvdA's lead candidates, and following a successful cabinet formation with the Catholic People's Party, he formed the Drees–Van Schaik cabinet, with Drees becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands, taking office on 7 August 1948.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands
From 7 August 1948 to 22 December 1958, Drees was Prime Minister of the Netherlands in four successive cabinets: the Drees–Van Schaik cabinet, the first Drees cabinet, the second Drees cabinet and the third Drees cabinet. From 1948 to 1958, his four cabinets were mostly praised and supported by the largest parties in the Netherlands. As Roman/Red coalitions, they were formed by the Catholic People's Party, the Labour Party and the Christian Historical Union (CHU), supplemented by the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) until 1952, and the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) from 1952 on.

His period in office saw at least four major political developments: the traumas of decolonisation, economic reconstruction, the establishment of the Dutch welfare state, and international integration and co-operation, including the formation of Benelux, the OEEC, NATO, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Economic Community.

A wide range of social reforms were carried out during Drees's tenure as prime minister. In social security, the Occupational Pensions Funds Act of March 1949 made membership of industry-wide pension funds compulsory, while the General Old Age Pensions Act of May 1956 introduced universal flat-rate old age pensions for all residents as a right and with no retirement condition at the age of 65. The Retired Persons' Family Allowances Act of November 1950 established a special allowance for pensioned public servants with children (abolished in 1963), a law of November 1950 extended compulsory health insurance to cover other groups such as old-age and invalidity pensioners, and a law of December 1956 introduced health insurance with special low contributions for old-aged pensioners below a certain income ceiling. A law of August 1950 established equal rights for illegitimate children, and introduced an allowance for disabled children between the ages of 16 and 20. This law also introduced monthly (previously annual) fixing of the number of children for whom allowances are claimable. The Temporary Family Allowances Act for the Self-employed of June 1951 entitled self-employed persons with low incomes to family allowance for the first and second child (abolished in 1963), and a law of February 1952 introduced an allowance for studying and for disabled children until the age of 27. In 1949, an unemployment insurance act was passed that came into effect in 1952. This contained redundancy pay insurance "for an initial short period of unemployment and the actual unemployment insurance for the period thereafter." In 1952 a Social Security Scheme for the Unemployed entered into force on 30 June 1952. It applied to unemployed persons "who, in principle, do not fall under the Unemployment Act or who, in principle, do fall under the said Act, but do not (any longer) receive benefits under the said Act." The scheme therefore distinguished two groups of employees and had two benefit schemes.

In 1949, an Artist Subsidy Scheme was introduced, under which artists "lacking sufficient income from their profession received a financial provision for a certain time allowing them to continue working." A Law of 22 June 1950 established the Praeventiefonds with the task of making funds available "to take measures aimed at preventing disease or promoting health." From 1950 to 1957, the Praeventiefonds received a separate budget "from the Equalization Fund for supplementary nutrition for TB patients curing at home." Under the Accident Pension Supplement Act of 26 May 1950, "in certain cases persons who received an annuity or benefit under one of the Accident Acts were granted a supplement to their annuity or benefit." One journal at that the time commented on the provisions of this law: "The law supplementing accident benefits came into force on 12 June 1950. Pursuant to this law, a contribution of 25% is granted on annuities under the Accidents Act 1921 and the Agriculture and Horticulture Accidents Act 1921, which annuities are calculated on the basis of a loss of fitness to work of more than 25%, if these annuities have been or will be awarded, in connection with an accident, that took place before 1 January 1947 and the person affected was compulsorily insured on the day of the accident. The same allowance is given on the annuities under the Maritime Accidents Act, if these benefits have been or will be awarded in connection with an accident that took place before 1 January 1946. Furthermore, the Minister of Social Affairs has determined that a married woman who is the breadwinner for her husband or for one or more children under the age of 16 is entitled to the allowance, unless her husband already derives rights under the law. The supplement does not apply to those who had an accident after the above dates. Their basic wages, on which interest is calculated, are higher."

The Pension and Savings Funds Act (PSW) of 1952 improved the vulnerable position of employees in private companies "by obliging the employer who had promised a pension to his employee to cover the pension risk he assumed, either with a pension fund or with an insurance company." However, the Act "does not oblige the employer to promise a pension: in contrast to the salary, to which the employee is entitled in all cases (cf. Article 1637 g of the Civil Code), the employee is only entitled to a pension if this has been promised." An Act of 29 September 1955, Stb. 456, amending the Poor Law, introduced an amended regulation regarding the domicile of social assistance, or for the payment of the costs of nursing or care of the sick, disabled and elderly in the appropriate institutions. The aim of the amendment was to provide a more satisfactory arrangement for liability for costs. In 1956, a Hungarian Refugee Assistance Scheme was introduced, along with Provision for the Blind (Voorziening voor Blinden). This provision recognized the blind as one of the groups in society entitled to a special benefit. In addition to the normative benefits, benefits tailored to the individual case could also be awarded, "such as expenses for the mental and cultural development of the blind person, costs of education or training and medical treatment or nursing of the blind person in his family." In 1957, a new social health insurance scheme for indigent pensioners was set up called bejaardenverzekering ("elderly insurance"). In January 1958, legal aid was introduced. The General Widows and Pensions Act was also drafted, which was passed under the second Beel cabinet

In terms of working conditions, safety Regulations for Electric Passenger and Goods Lifts with a Cage that can be entered were introduced on 15 June 1949. A Decree further amending the Safety Decree for Factories and Workplaces, 1938 dated January 1950 "adds seven new Sections, 212-212 F to the Safety Decree of 1938. The new sections deal with construction, repair or demolition of buildings, foundations, water works, underground conduits and roads. In addition to general safety provisions, there are provisions concerning the construction and use of scaffolds, floors, gangways, stairs, gangplanks, etc., and hoisting appliances." Other decrees were issued concerning working hours for various groups. The Silicosis Act of 1951 sought "to prevent and combat dust lung diseases, such as silicosis, caused by inhalation of finely divided quartz dust, e.g. from sandblasting or sandstone processing, and asbestosis, caused by inhalation of asbestos dust." The Law on dangerous tools of 5 March 1952 contained safety regulations with regard to dangerous tools and protection equipment. In the legislative amendment of 19 January 1955, after a number of failed attempts, the regulation of working and rest times in agriculture was realized in the Labor Act 1919. The Act of 18 June 1953 (Stb. 421) amended the provisions of the Labor Act 1919 on the night work of women and young persons. For instance, the time of commencement of the daily working hours for blue-collar workers under the age of 16 was raised from 5 to 6 hours, and the minimum night's rest for young people from 11 to 12 hours. A law of 6 August 1954 established a legal ban on industrial work for 14-year-old girls. In 1950, works councils were established, requiring all enterprises with more than 25 employees to allow their employees to elect representatives. The Industrial Reorganization Act of 1950 made it mandatory for workers to belong to an industrial organizations, which were bipartite associations that represented labor and management interests. These were primarily responsible for administering occupational security programs like disability and pensions. According to one study, "by making participation in the associations mandatory, Drees was able to vastly expand the scope of the workforce covered by social security programs, guaranteeing a greater degree of uniformity in the benefits workers received." Dismissal law was reformed in 1953, with a scheme introduced "that not only created the possibility of claiming compensation after a manifestly unreasonable dismissal, but also the so-called 'restoration of employment'." In 1957 the dismissal of female civil servants upon marriage was abolished.

In the field of housing, the Implementation for Rent Act (1950) fixed rents and rent increases, while the Regional and Town Planning Act (1950) regulated the planning of house building. In addition, the Reconstruction Act of 1950 established housebuilding programmes, and legislation was passed on house building standards (1951), the uniformity of buildings (1954), and uniform building standards (1956). In 1953, a premium scheme for home improvement was set up by the government. From 1956 it was possible for low-income groups to obtain a mortgage guarantee. In education, measures were carried out such as increased expenditure on the system, a reduction in registration fees at state universities and at the institute of technology, and the granting (in January 1956) of a special benefit to primary school teachers and to certain categories of vocational teachers, "particularly those who risk being unemployed and who cannot lay claim to a retaining fee." From 1951 onwards government grants were provided to 'impoverished young people from very good study aptitude that met reasonable requirements of general development and civilization' (De Looper, 1997). A doubling of the deduction of costs for learning and studying children aged 16 to 27 from income and wealth tax was achieved, followed by a triple deduction for income, wage and wealth taxes for parents with studying children aged 16 to 27 who lived away from home and who were largely supported by their parents.

Other initiatives included secondary schools for girls and special primary education in 1949, teacher training colleges in 1952, the extension of compulsory education to eight years in 1950, the Nursery Education Act of 1955, which introduced the option of kindergarten for children from the age of four upwards, while also establishing regulations for nursery-school teachers, and the Schoolfees Act of 1955, which abolished all fees up to the school-leaving age.

A department of social welfare was also established (1952), employment facilities for the disabled were expanded and care for the blind received money. In 1952, a policy framework was set up for dealing with "problem families," such as subsidies for pillarized family care and social development work in the cities. That same year, the Ministry of Social Affairs began granting subsidies "to promote the employment of the blind, on the one hand through contributions for individual cases (purchase or conversion of equipment, transport, etc.), on the other hand through subsidizing the work facilities of the blind." Following on from schemes for the blind, equal provisions for other handicapped persons were established in 1955 and 1958. From 1953, subsidies to voluntary agencies serving the physically and the mentally handicapped were included in the budget of the Ministry of Culture, Recreation, and Social Welfare, when they were introduced as an experiment that year. In addition, "Government care for passengers on inland vessels started with the establishment of the Social Commission for Boatmen in 1956." The Water Supply Act of 1957 sought to achieve sanitation in terms of drinking water quality. In 1957, "the task of the Central Commission for Cultural Work in Labor Camps (CCCA) was modified and expanded and at the same time the Provincial and Local Committees were abolished. The task of the CCCA was formulated as the promotion of the cultural interests of workers, group-housed in housing estates whose operation and/or management falls under the care of the minister and, if necessary, other groups of workers, group-housed outside their places of residence." The Health Act of 1956 contained new legal regulations concerning regarding the organization of public health care, while the Medicines Supply Act of 28 July 1958, contained new regulations "regarding the supply of medicines and the practice of medical preparation."

In addition, a number of 'regulation laws' were passed through parliament including the Insurance Brokerage Act, the Shop Closing Act (including some twenty amendments), development plans for disadvantaged areas and the Credit System Supervision Act.

The third Drees cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 and shortly thereafter Drees announced his retirement from politics. Drees left office upon the installation of the caretaker second Beel cabinet on 22 December 1958. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 22 December 1958 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death in May 1988 at the age of 101. He continued to be active as a valued historian and prolific author and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. The Labour Party appointed him a member of its Executive Council for life in 1959. Due to impaired hearing he stopped attending its meetings in 1966. He strongly disagreed with New Left tendencies in the membership and strategies of the Labour Party, and eventually gave up membership of a party he had served for close to 67 years.

Personal life

On 28 July 1910, Drees married Catharina Hent (6 May 1888 – 30 January 1974) and had two sons and two daughters. Both his sons Jan Drees and Willem Drees Jr. were active members of the Labour Party, but left the party around 1970 to join the Democratic Socialists 1970. The cause was a row with younger party members who wanted to plot a more radical left-wing course for the party. Drees himself left the Labour Party in 1971 leaving them without their icon, but he never joined the Democratic Socialists 1970.

Drees was a life-long teetotaler. He was also an Esperantist and addressed the 1954 World Esperanto Congress, which was held in Haarlem.

Drees died on 14 May 1988 in The Hague, at age 101. From 22 August 1986, when former Turkish President Celâl Bayar died, until his own death Drees was the world's oldest living former head of government.

In 2004 he ended in third place in the election of The Greatest Dutchman.

title: Willem Drees


text:
User:Pamplemousse

Pamplemousse is French for grapefruit. There is no reason behind the nick, except that I've used it elsewhere and like it. As words go, it is, I admit, ridiculous. But I like it.

title: User:Pamplemousse