Willem Drees

(1886 - 1988)

Willem Drees (Amsterdam, July 5, 1886 – The Hague, May 14, 1988) was a Dutch politician of Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij (SDAP) and the later Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1958 and is regarded by many as one of the most important post-war Dutch politicians. Under his leadership, both the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies and the reconstruction of the Netherlands took place. Drees was a committed social democrat, yet very pragmatic ('not everything is possible, and certainly not everything at once').