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Piet de Jong Politician

Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpid də ˈjɔŋ]; born April 3, 1915) is a retired Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from April 5, 1967 until July 6, 1971.A veteran naval officer of World War II, De Jong graduated from the Royal Netherlands Naval College in 1934 and joined the Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service and served on HNLMS O 24 during World War II, he ended the war as the commanding officer of that vessel, the HNLMS O 24 was one of the few Dutch submarines that survived World War II. During his service in World War II he was awarded the Bronze Cross twice, the first time in 1940 and for the second time in 1943, De Jong was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross of the United Kingdom for his services and leadership during World War II.After World War II De Jong continued to serve in the Royal Netherlands Navy, commanding the frigate HNLMS De Zeeuw from 1951 until 1952 and the destroyer HNLMS Gelderland from 1958 until 1959. Between his two assignments as commanding officer he served as chief of staff to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld and aide-de-camp to Queen Juliana from 1955 until 1958. De Jong eventually rose to the rank of Captain in 1958 but retired from active service a year later when he was asked by the Catholic People's Party to serve on their behalf as State Secretary for Defence dealing with matters of the Royal Netherlands Navy.De Jong served as State Secretary for Defence from June 25, 1959 until July 24, 1963 in the Cabinet De Quay. He later became Minister of Defence serving from July 24, 1963 until April 5, 1967 in the Cabinets Marijnen, Cals and Zijlstra. After the Dutch general election of 1967, De Jong became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs, leading the Cabinet de Jong. He also served as acting Minister of Economic Affairs from January 7, 1970 until January 14, 1970 following the resignation of Leo de Block, he was succeeded by Roelof Nelissen. The resignation of De Block marked the only change in the Council of Ministers during the full term of the cabinet.Despite his popularity, the Catholic People's Party refused to nominate him as the lijsttrekker (top candidate) for the Dutch general election of 1971 because of his alleged "conservative image" and he was replaced by his Minister of Education and Science Gerard Veringa who had a more "progressive image". After his premiership, De Jong remained in active politics and became the Parliamentary leader of the Catholic People's Party in the Senate and a Member of the Senate serving from May 11, 1971 until September 17, 1974 and finally retiring from active politics at the age of fifty nine. Following the end of his active political career, De Jong occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards in the business and industry world (Royal Dutch Shell, Douwe Egberts, Het Financieele Dagblad, DAF, Koninklijke Hoogovens, SHV Holdings, CSM N.V., Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the Netherlands Red Cross).De Jong is known for his dry wit and quick remarks. His abilities as a team leader with perspective and pragmatism were greatly admired. The Cabinet De Jong was the first cabinet after World War II that completed a full term without any internal conflicts. As of 2015, he is the oldest and earliest serving former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and the second oldest living state leader (and the oldest living non-acting state leader) at the age of 100. Over 43 years after he left office, De Jong continues to comment on political affairs as an elder statesman.

Personal facts

Alias (AKA)	Jong Petrus Jozef Sietze de
Birth date	April 03, 1915
Birth name	Petrus Jozef Sietze de Jong
Birth place	Netherlands , Apeldoorn
Nationality	Netherlands
Religion	Catholic Church
Residence	Netherlands , The Hague
Education	Royal Netherlands Naval College

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