Willem "Wim" Drees Jr. (24 December 1922 – 5 September 1998) was a Dutch politician of the

Democratic Socialists '70 The Democratic Socialists '70 ( nl, Democratisch Socialisten '70, DS'70) was a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. History DS'70 was founded on 4 April 1970 as the result of a split from the Labour Party (PvdA). In June 1970, ...

(DS'70) party and economist. Drees worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

in the Dutch East Indies from 1945 until 1947 and as a financial analyst at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF) from 1947 until 1950. Drees worked as Deputy Director of the

Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis The Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis ( nl, Centraal Planbureau, CPB, literal translation: Central Planning Bureau) is a part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands. Its goal is to deliver economic analysis an ...

from 1 January 1950 until 1 January 1956 and as a civil servant for the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

as Director-General of the department for Budgetary Affairs from 1 January 1956 until 1 September 1969. In August 1969 Drees was appointed as Treasurer-General of the Ministry of Finance, serving from 1 September 1969 until 8 January 1971. In December 1970 Drees was approached by the Chairman of the newly founded Democratic Socialists '70 Jan van Stuijvenberg to seek the leadership for the election of 1971. Drees accepted and was unopposed in his candidacy and was elected as Leader and became the ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

'' (top candidate) of the Democratic Socialists '70 for the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

on 8 January 1971, he resigned as Treasurer-General that same day. After the

the Democratic Socialists '70 entered the House of Representatives with 8 seats. Drees was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and became the

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

of the Democratic Socialists '70 in the House of Representatives, taking office on 11 May 1971. Following the cabinet formation of 1971 Drees was appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 after the Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70) retracted their support following their dissatisfaction with the proposed budget memorandum to further reduce the deficit. The Democratic Socialists '70 cabinet members resigned on 21 July 1972. For the election of 1972 Drees again served as ''Lijsttrekker''. The Democratic Socialists '70 suffered a small loss, losing 2 seats and now had 6 seats in the House of Representatives. Drees returned as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 5 September 1972. For the election of 1977 Drees once more served as ''Lijsttrekker''. The Democratic Socialists '70 suffered a big loss, losing 5 seats and now had only 1 seat in the House of Representatives. Drees took responsibility for the defeat and sequentially announced he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader and a Member of the House of Representative on 20 August 1977. Drees semi-retired from active politics and became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

, in September 1977 Drees was nominated as a Member of the Court of Audit, serving from 4 October 1977 until 1 January 1984. After his retirement, Drees occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director in the public sector (

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

, Society for Statistics and Operations Research,

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP,

European Cultural Foundation The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Netherlands-based independent cultural foundation. Its mission is to “make a tangible impact on civil society, citizen initiatives, public opinion and policy proposals to combat the fragmenting forces ...

and the International Statistical Institute)

Biography

Education

After attending

Gymnasium Haganum The Gymnasium Haganum is one of the oldest public schools in the Netherlands, located in the city of The Hague. First mentioned in 1327, the school is currently housed in a monumental Renaissance Revival architecture building, built in 1907. It ...

from 1934 to 1940, Drees studied at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...

from 1940 to 1946, and gained his doctorate there in 1955.

Political career

Son of former

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, G ...

, he was a member of the Labour Party from 1946 until 1970 when he entered politics as Party leader of the new

, a relatively right-wing split from the Labour Party. He served as

of the

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 29 April 1971 and a Member of the House of Representatives from 11 May 1971. After the Dutch general election of 1971 and became Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I serving from 6 July 1971 until 21 July 1972. He returned to the

on 5 September 1972 and again became

in the

on 14 May 1973. He resigned his positions on 20 August 1977 and retired as Leader of the Democratic Socialists '70 the same day.Willem Drees jr. (75) in Den Haag overleden
Volkskrant, 8 September 1998

Family

On 3 February 1947, he married Anna Erica Gescher (born 26 October 1922). They had five children; four girls and one son Willem B. Drees, their third child, became a philosopher. Anna Erica Drees-Gescher died on 12 May 1988 at the age of 65. Willem Drees Jr. died on 5 September 1998 at the age of 75. Relatively young compared to his parents; his father

died at the age of 101 and his mother Catharina Hent died at the age of 85.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Dr. W. (Wim) Drees jr.
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Drees Jr., Willem 1922 births 1998 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Democratic Socialists '70 politicians Dutch accountants Dutch agnostics Dutch expatriates in Indonesia Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch financial analysts Dutch financial writers Dutch humanists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the United Nations Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Erasmus University Rotterdam faculty International Monetary Fund people Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Leaders of the Democratic Socialists '70 Macroeconomists Members of the Court of Audit (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Monetarists Monetary economists Ministers of Transport and Water Management of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of The Hague Public economists Writers from The Hague 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch mathematicians 20th-century Dutch politicians Treasurers-General