Piet de Jong, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Piet de Jong

43rd Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Date of Birth: 03-Apr-1915

Place of Birth: Apeldoorn, Gelderland, Netherlands

Date of Death: 27-Jul-2016

Profession: politician, submariner

Nationality: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About Piet de Jong

  • Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: ['pe?tr?s 'jo?z?f 'sits? 'pit d? 'j??]; 3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and naval officer who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 5 April 1967 to 6 July 1971.De Jong applied at the Royal Naval College in Den Helder in June 1931 as an Midshipman before graduating as an Ensign in the Royal Netherlands Navy in July 1934 and joined the Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service.
  • On 10 May 1940 Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands and the government fled to London to escape the German occupation.
  • De Jong then an Lieutenant junior grade 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, England.
  • De Jong successfully navigated the HNLMS O 24 through English Channel 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 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 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 World War II 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 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 Prince Bernhard and as chief military adjutant and senior aide-de-camp to Queen Juliana.
  • In October 1958 De Jong was promoted to Captain and appointment as Commanding Officer of the destroyer HNLMS Gelderland.After the election of 1959 De Jong was approached by the Leader of the Catholic People's Party Carl Romme as a candidate for State Secretary for Defence of Naval Affairs, De Jong accepted and was appointed as State Secretary for Defence in the Cabinet De Quay, taking office on 25 June 1959.
  • After the election of 1959 De Jong was appointed as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Marijnen, taking office on 24 July 1963.
  • The Cabinet Marijnen fell on 27 February 1965 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1965 when it was replaced by the Cabinet Cals with De Jong continuing as Minister of Defence, taking office on 14 April 1965.
  • The Cabinet Cals fell just one year later on 14 October 1966 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra with De Jong remaining as Minister of Defence, taking office on 22 November 1966.
  • De Jong was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1967, taking office on 23 February 1967.
  • Following a failed cabinet formation attempt by the Leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party and incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Barend Biesheuvel De Jong was approached by Vice-President of the Council of State and former Prime Minister Louis Beel as a compromise candidate for Prime Minister, De Jong accepted and was appointed as Formateur to form a new cabinet.
  • The following cabinet formation of 1967 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Catholic People's Party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) which formed the Cabinet De Jong with De Jong becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs, taking office on 5 April 1967.For the election of 1971 the Catholic People's Party leadership refused to nominate De Jong as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) despite his popularity and instead nominated incumbent Minister of Education and Sciences Gerard Veringa as Lijsttrekker.
  • shortly thereafter De Jong announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1971 but wanted run for the Senate.
  • After the Senate election of 1971 De Jong was elected as a Member of the Senate and was subsequently was selected as Parliamentary leader of the Catholic People's Party, taking office on 11 May 1971.
  • Following the cabinet formation of 1971 De Jong per his own request asked not to be considered for a cabinet post in the new cabinet, the Cabinet De Jong was replaced by the Cabinet Biesheuvel I on 6 July 1971.
  • De Jong also became active in the private sector and public sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (Royal Dutch Shell, DAF Trucks, NN Group, SHV Holdings, CSM and Het Financieele Dagblad) and served on several state commissions and as an diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government.De Jong was known for his abilities as a team leader and negotiator.
  • During his premiership, his cabinet was responsible for reforms to education, social security, intruding the value-added tax, improving relations with the former Dutch East Indies now Indonesia and dealing with the Counterculture of the 1960s.
  • De Jong continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death from at the high age of 101, by the time of his death he was the oldest living state leader.
  • He holds the record as the second longest-lived Prime Minister of the Netherlands after Willem Drees and holds the distinction of leading the first cabinet as Prime Minister that completed a full term without any internal conflicts after World War II and is consistently ranked both by scholar and the public as one of the best Prime Ministers after World War II.

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