33 Facts About Willem Drees

In February 1946, Willem Drees was one of the co-founders of the Labour Party and became its first Leader.

The third Willem Drees cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 and shortly thereafter Willem Drees announced his retirement and would step down as Leader and would not serve another term as prime minister.

Willem Drees left office upon the installation of the caretaker second Beel cabinet on 22 December 1958.

Willem Drees was known for his abilities as a skilful team leader and effective manager.

Willem 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.

Willem 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.

Willem Drees was born in Amsterdam on 5 July 1886 in an orthodox reformed middle-class family.

Willem Drees could continue studying thanks to the support of his uncle Frits.

Willem Drees attended the three-year hogereburgerschool, supplemented by the two final grades of the Amsterdam Public Trade School.

Willem Drees grew up attending Sunday school and catechism, but rejected the Christian creed at the age of eighteen.

Willem Drees developed an interest in political and social affairs at this time, such as the Boer Wars and the Dreyfus affair.

At the age of sixteen, Willem 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.

Willem Drees joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party on his eighteenth birthday.

In July 1906, Willem 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.

Willem 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.

Willem Drees was first elected to the municipal council of The Hague in 1913, and would keep his seat until 1941.

Willem Drees was responsible for social affairs until 1931, and for finance and public works after that.

For 22 years, between 1919 and 1941, Willem Drees held a seat in the Provincial Council of South Holland.

Willem 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.

Willem Drees served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for social affairs.

Willem Drees 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.

Willem Drees likewise rejected cooperation with the Communist Party of the Netherlands.

Shortly after the German invasion of the Netherlands, Albarda announced he was stepping down as party leader, and Willem Drees was unanimously selected as his successor on 14 May 1940.

The third Willem Drees cabinet fell on 11 December 1958 and shortly thereafter Willem Drees announced his retirement from politics.

Willem Drees left office upon the installation of the caretaker second Beel cabinet on 22 December 1958.

Willem 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.

Willem Drees continued to be active as a valued historian and prolific author and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government.

Willem Drees 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.

On 28 July 1910, Willem Drees married Catharina Hent and had two sons and two daughters.

Willem Drees himself left the Labour Party in 1971 leaving them without their icon, but he never joined the Democratic Socialists 1970.

Willem Drees was an Esperantist and addressed the 1954 World Esperanto Congress, which was held in Haarlem.

Willem Drees died on 14 May 1988 in The Hague, at age 101.

From 22 August 1986, when former Turkish President Celal Bayar died, until his own death Willem Drees was the world's oldest living former head of government.