Rolf Presthus (29 July 1936 – 1 January 1988) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

politician and lawyer, who was chairman of the

Norwegian Conservative Party The Conservative Party or The Right ( nb, Høyre, nn, Høgre, , H; se, Olgešbellodat) is a liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the major party of the Norwegian centre-right, and was the leading party in government as part of ...

from 1986 to 1988. Presthus served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

1981–1986, and

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 1986. He was a member of parliament from Akershus from 1969 to 1988, and mayor of

Oppegård Oppegård is an area in Nordre Follo, Viken, Norway. Oppegård was a municipality in the former county Akershus. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kolbotn. The m ...

from 1968 to 1969. At the Conservative party conference in 1987 he became the first Norwegian politician to use a

teleprompter A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually be ...

during a speech. He received widespread criticism and accusations, both for cheating and contributing to the

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of American culture and business on other countries outside the United States of America, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, te ...

of Norwegian politics. Presthus died in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

at the age of 51 on 1 January 1988, due to a cerebral hemorrhage.

References

1936 births 1988 deaths Members of the Storting Ministers of Finance of Norway Leaders of the Conservative Party (Norway) 20th-century Norwegian politicians Defence ministers of Norway {{Norway-politician-1930s-stub