Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (; 3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP) now the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA) party and naval officer who served as

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'' ...

from 5 April 1967 to 6 July 1971. De Jong applied at the Royal Naval College in Den Helder and graduated as an

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and joined the Submarine Service. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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 War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

De Jong served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

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 A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

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 Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

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 Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation formed the Cabinet De Jong and became

taking office on 5 April 1967. For the election of 1971 the Catholics declined to nominate De Jong as ''

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) and shortly thereafter De Jong announced that he wouldn't stand 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

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 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 ...

s as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several 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 A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...

and skillful negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinet was responsible for several major reforms to

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

taxes A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

, overseeing improvement in relations with the former Dutch East Indies, handling the Counterculture of the 1960s, the fallout of the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

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 at and 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 Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. Th ...

in the Netherlands province of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family that originated from

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, 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 The Royal Naval College was the service academy of the Royal Netherlands Navy. From 2005 it is part of the ("Royal naval institute" or KIM) as part of the ("Netherlands defence academy") in Den Helder. It offers a program of four or five year ...

in Den Helder. In 1934, he received his commission as a Sub-lieutenant. Piet de Jong in uniform

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 Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

fled to London to escape the German occupation. De Jong then an

Lieutenant junior grade Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...

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 Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England. De Jong successfully navigated the HNLMS ''O 24'' through

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

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 The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

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 Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

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

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 Allied Command Channel (ACCHAN) was one of three major North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commands from 1952 to 1994. Commander-in-Chief Channel was a Major NATO Commander (MNC). The Command was established in 1952 to defend the sea areas a ...

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 Lieutenant admiral () is a senior naval military rank in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The rank is a four-star rank, senior to a vice-admiral () and equivalent to admiral in most foreign navies. It is used whenever the Dutch Chief of Defence is fro ...

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

and as chief military adjutant and senior '' aide-de-camp'' to

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. S ...

. In October 1958 De Jong was promoted to Captain and appointment as Commanding Officer of the destroyer HNLMS ''Gelderland''.

Politics

State Secretary

On 7 June 1959, during a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

naval exercises A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

near

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, 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

for a seat 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 ...

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

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

but Romme respond by saying: "You are not a member of a different party? No, but you are a

? Then we will we see you as one of us." Romme did advise De Jong to become a member of the

after six months. On 11 June 1959, De Jong reported back to

Van den Bergh Van den Bergh, Van Den Bergh is a Dutch surname, a variant of Van den Berg. Notable people with the surname include: *Arnold van den Bergh (notary) (1886‒1950), Amsterdam civil law notary *Dave van den Bergh (born 1976), Dutch footballer *Dimitri ...

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,

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

in the successive Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra cabinets.

Prime Minister

From 5 April 1967 to 6 July 1971, he was

and Minister of General Affairs in the De Jong cabinet. His Cabinet was the first

Cabinet of the Netherlands The cabinet of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, which has been in power since 10 January 2022. It is headed by Prime Min ...

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 The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Internationally, relations with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

improved, resulting in a visit by president Suharto which was, however, overshadowed by the occupation of the Indonesian embassy by

Moluccans Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provi ...

. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

invasion in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

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 Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, Presidents of France Charles de Gaulle and

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

. He was present in the hospital when

Prince Claus Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...

announced the birth of his son

Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beat ...

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

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 Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

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 The Nieuwspoort (English: News gate) is a society catering to Dutch politicians, lobbyists and journalists so they can informally meet. It's also a place where press conferences from politicians (most notably the Prime Minister of the Netherlands' ...

'' (Newsgate) about the publication of the biography of former

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

and the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...

Joseph Luns. On 24 April 2010 during the annual

party conference, De Jong spoke about former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and Labour Party party leader

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ...

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 The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD), and De Jong's own CDA, but with the support of the Party for Freedom (PVV) of

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

. De Jong spoke against this support and said that the PVV's stand on

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

was a deal-breaker. On 30 March 2012, De Jong and several other prominent CDA members, including fellow former Prime Minister

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Re ...

, former Ministers of Foreign Affairs

Hans van den Broek Henri "Hans" van den Broek (; born 11 December 1936) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as List of Euro ...

Pieter Kooijmans Pieter Hendrik "Peter" Kooijmans (; 6 July 1933 – 13 February 2013) was a Dutch politician, jurist, and diplomat. He was of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), which later merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. From 1 ...

and Ben Bot, former Ministers for Development Cooperation Piet Bukman and

Agnes van Ardenne Anna Maria Agnes "Agnes" van Ardenne-Van der Hoeven (born 21 January 1950) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). Career Agnes van Ardenne was born in Maasland in 1950. Before taking office as a me ...

, and former ministers

Wim Deetman Willem Joost "Wim" Deetman (born 3 April 1945) is a retired Dutch politician and teacher who served as Minister of Education and Sciences from 1982 to 1989, Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1989 to 1996 and Mayor of The Hague from ...

and

Ernst Hirsch Ballin Ernst Maurits Henricus Hirsch Ballin (born 15 December 1950) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. After the election of 1989 Hirsch Ballin was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cab ...

and former State Secretary

Karien van Gennip Catharina Elisabeth Godefrida "Karien" van Gennip (born 3 October 1968) is a Dutch businesswoman and politician who has served as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Fourth Rutte cabinet since 10 January 2022. She is a member of ...

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 Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; born 2 February 1931) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of t ...

and

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 Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

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 The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

, 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 The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, " ...

'' 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

and former Deputy Prime Minister

Hans Wiegel Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...

, who praised De Jong being perhaps the best Prime Minister after World War II. Former Member of the Senate and

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

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

, 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 , 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 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 ...

who lived to .

Death

Piet de Jong died on 27 July 2016 at his home in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

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.

Military ranks

Decorations

Bibliography

References

External links

;Official *
P.J.S. (Piet) de Jong
Parlement & Politiek *
P.J.S. de Jong (KVP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal *
Kabinet-De Jong
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Piet de 1915 births 2016 deaths Aide-de-camp to the Monarch of the Netherlands Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of the Sword Directors of Shell plc Dutch centenarians Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Indonesia Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch Roman Catholics Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Men centenarians Military personnel of the Korean War Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands People from Apeldoorn Politicians from The Hague Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Recipients of the Bronze Cross (Netherlands) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Order of the House of Orange Royal Netherlands Naval College alumni Royal Netherlands Navy officers Royal Netherlands Navy personnel of World War II Royal Netherlands Navy submarine commanders State Secretaries for Defence of the Netherlands Submariners 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch politicians