Willem Drees
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| Willem Drees July 5, 1886 - May 14 1988 | |||||
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| Prime Minister of the Netherlands | |||||
Willem Drees (July 5, 1886-May 14, 1988) was a Dutch politician, prime minister of the Netherlands from 1948 until 1958, as a member of the social-democratic Dutch Labour Party (PvdA).
Born in Amsterdam, Drees was known as Vadertje Drees ("Father Drees"), and was very popular. During his office as a prime minister, the Netherlands recovered from the Second World War, Decolonization took place and the modern welfare state was formed. Drees also held the cabinet postition of Minister of State in 1959. He died in The Hague in 1988.
Both his sons Jan and Willem (1922-1998) were active members of the PvdA, but left the party around 1970 to join DS'70 (Democratic Socialists '70). The cause was a row with younger party members who wanted to plot a more radical leftwing course for the party. Willem Drees would soon also leave the PvdA, leaving them without their icon, but never joined DS '70.
External link
Reference
W. Drees, Gespiegeld in de tijd. De nagelaten autobiografie (Amsterdam 2000). (Memoir by Willem Drees, jr.)
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