Dries van Agt

Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (Dutch: [ˈdris fɑn ˈɑxt] (listen);[1] born 2 February 1931) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) until it merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Dries van Agt
Van Agt in 1980
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 19 December 1977 – 4 November 1982
Monarch	Juliana (1977–1980) Beatrix (1980–1982)
Deputy	See list Hans Wiegel (1977–1981) Joop den Uyl (1981–1982) Jan Terlouw (1981–1982)
Preceded by	Joop den Uyl
Succeeded by	Ruud Lubbers
Ambassador of the European Union to the United States
In office 1 January 1990 – 1 April 1995
Preceded by	Roy Denman
Succeeded by	Hugo Paemen
Ambassador of the European Union to Japan
In office 1 January 1987 – 1 January 1990
Preceded by	Laurens Jan Brinkhorst
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Leng
Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant
In office 1 June 1983 – 22 April 1987
Monarch	Beatrix
Preceded by	Jan Dirk van der Harten
Succeeded by	Frank Houben
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 28 May 1982 – 4 November 1982
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Max van der Stoel
Succeeded by	Hans van den Broek
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives
In office 10 June 1981 – 24 August 1981
Preceded by	Ruud Lubbers
Succeeded by	Ruud Lubbers
In office 8 June 1977 – 19 December 1977
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Willem Aantjes
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In office 10 December 1976 – 25 October 1982
Deputy	See list Willem Aantjes (1976–1978) Ruud Lubbers (1978–1982)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Ruud Lubbers
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 11 May 1973 – 8 September 1977
Prime Minister	Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Roelof Nelissen Molly Geertsema
Succeeded by	Gaius de Gaay Fortman
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 16 September 1982 – 16 June 1983
In office 10 June 1981 – 9 September 1981
In office 8 June 1977 – 19 December 1977
In office 23 January 1973 – 22 April 1973
Minister of Justice
In office 6 July 1971 – 8 September 1977
Prime Minister	Barend Biesheuvel Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Carel Polak
Succeeded by	Gaius de Gaay Fortman
Personal details
Born	Andreas Antonius Maria van Agt (1931-02-02) 2 February 1931 Geldrop, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980)
Other political affiliations	Catholic People's Party (until 1980)
Spouse(s)	Eugenie Krekelberg (m. 1958)
Children	Eugenie (born 1959) Frans (born 1961) Caroline (born 1963)
Residence	Nijmegen, Netherlands
Alma mater	Radboud University Nijmegen (Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician · Diplomat · Civil servant · Jurist · Lawyer · Judge · Nonprofit director · Lobbyist · Activist · Author · Professor
Signature
Website	(in Dutch) driesvanagt.nl

Van Agt attended the Augustinianum Gymnasium in Eindhoven from June 1943 until June 1949 and applied at the Radboud University Nijmegen in June 1949 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bachelor of Laws degree in July 1951 before graduating with an Master of Laws degree in July 1955. Van Agt worked as a criminal defense lawyer at Van der Putt, Nijst, Van Sandick en Depla in Eindhoven from September 1955 until December 1957. Van Agt worked as a civil servant from December 1957 until January 1968 for the department for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from December 1957 until December 1962 and for the department for Public Law of the Ministry of Justice from December 1962 until January 1968. Van Agt worked as a professor of Criminal law and Criminal procedure at the Radboud University Nijmegen from January 1968 until July 1971 and served as a judge at the district court of Arnhem from April 1970 until May 1971.

After the election of 1971 Van Agt was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Van Agt continuing as Minister of Justice, taking office on 9 August 1972. Van Agt was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1972, taking office on 23 January 1973. Following the cabinet formation of 1972 Van Agt continued as Minister of Justice and was also appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Den Uyl, taking office on 11 May 1973. The Cabinet Den Uyl fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. On 10 December 1976 the Catholic People's Party together with the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) party choose to merge in a political alliance to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the Chairman of the Christian Democratic Appeal Piet Steenkamp approached Van Agt to become the first Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, Van Agt accepted and became the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and the first lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the Christian Democratic Appeal for the election of 1977. The Christian Democratic Appeal had 48 seats in the House of House of Representatives previously held by former parties and made a small win, gaining 1 seat and remained the second-largest party and now had 49 seats in the House of Representatives. Van Agt returned as a Member of the House of Representatives and became the parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives, taking office on 8 June 1977 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of dualism customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics he could not serve a dual mandate he subsequently resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice on 8 September 1977. Following several failed cabinet formation attempts by incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Joop den Uyl Van Agt struck a deal with the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Hans Wiegel to form a new cabinet and Van Agt was appointed as formateur. The following cabinet formation of 1977 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) which formed the cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel with Van Agt becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs, taking office on 19 December 1977.

For the election of 1981 Van Agt served again as lijsttrekker. The Christian Democratic Appeal suffered a small loss, losing 1 seat but became the largest party for the first time and now had 48 seats in the House of Representatives and Van Agt was appointed as Formateur. Van Agt subsequently returned as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 10 June 1981. The following cabinet formation of 1981 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal, the Labour Party (PvdA) and Democrats 66 (D66) party which formed the cabinet Van Agt II with Van Agt remaining Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Second Van Agt II cabinet fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 after continuing tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker cabinet Van Agt III with Van Agt continuing as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Minister of General Affairs and also took over as Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 29 May 1982. For the election of 1982 Van Agt served for a third and last time as lijsttrekker. The Christian Democratic Appeal suffered a small loss, losing 3 seats and fell back as the second largest party and now had 45 seats in the House of Representatives. Van Agt subsequently returned as a member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 16 September 1982. On 25 October 1982 shortly after the election Van Agt unexpectedly announced he was stepping down as leader and would not serve another term as Prime Minister. Following the cabinet formation of 1982 during which Van Agt asked not to be considered for a post in the new cabinet, the Third Van Agt cabinet was replaced by the First Lubbers cabinet on 4 November 1982; he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher.

In May 1983 Van Agt was nominated as the next Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant, taking office on 1 June 1983, he resigned as member of the House of Representatives on 16 June 1983. In December 1986 Van Agt was appointed as Ambassador of the European Union to Japan, taking office on 1 January 1987, he resigned as Queen's Commissioner on 22 April 1987. In December 1989 Van Agt was appointed as Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, he resigned as Ambassador to Japan the same day he was installed as Ambassador to the United States, serving from 1 January 1990 until 1 April 1995. Van Agt retired after spending 24 years in national politics and became active in the public sector and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (InterAction Council, Green Cross International and the Edmund Burke Foundation) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for anti-war movement, human rights and the two-state solution for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Van Agt also served as a distinguished visiting professor of International relations, Peace and conflict studies and Governmental studies at the United Nations University in Shibuya, Japan, the Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan, as well as Kyoto University and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan from February 1996 until May 2004. Van Agt is known for his abilities as a negotiator and debater. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for major reforms to the public sector, civil service and public administration and the struggles with the recession in the 1980s. Van Agt continues to comment on political affairs as a statesman. Following the death of Piet de Jong on 27 July 2016, he became the oldest living former Prime Minister.[2]