Photographs presented to Willem Drees

"from his good friend Harry Truman"

The famous Dutch social-democrat Willem Drees (1886-1988) was 59 years old when he Second World War ended. Only then did he receive his first appointment as a minister: he served as deputy prime minister and minister of Social Affairs in the Schermerhorn (1945-1946) and Beel (1946-1948) administrations. On 7 August 1948 Drees became prime minister. He was in charge of four councils of ministers over the course of more than a decade.
The papers of this social democratic leader are now at the National Archives at The Hague. The recent gift to the IISH from his granddaughter Marijke Drees of three crates filled with thousands of photographs was particularly welcome. Most of the photographs were taken after World War II.
They include photographs of the Round Table Conference in The Hague on 2 November 1949, where Indonesia became independent, as well as a photo album presented by the KLM concerning his journey to South Africa in October 1953. During his stopover in Kano, Nigeria, he met with the local authorities. The jewel in the crown is probably the elegant album "from his good friend Harry Truman," presented upon the "Visit of his excellency Willem Drees prime minister of the Netherlands to the United States of America January 12 to January 24 1952."

Text was taken from On the Waterfront -
newsletter of the Friends of the IISH
Issue 8 (pdf, 739 Kb)