Second Drees cabinet

The economic recovery after World War II continued. This made further expansion of social security possible, of which the best example is the institution of the state pension AOW in 1956. Also, a major housing scheme was executed, building 80 000 houses per year.

A major setback was the North Sea flood of 1953, which resulted in damage equivalent to 5% of the GDP. An emergency law was made to recover the dykes and plans were made for the Delta Works, the world's largest flood protection project, which should protect the South West Netherlands against another such combination of storm and spring tide.

An episcopal 'mandement' called for Catholics to give up their PvdA-membership, but without result.

The 29 December 1952 Statute for the kingdom granted Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles a certain degree of independence within the kingdom.

In 1955 the labour ban on married women was abolished, following the "motion Tendeloo", named after PvdA's member of parliament Corry Tendeloo. This ban meant that state employers had to fire their female employees once they married.[5]

On 15 February 1956 the Dutch-Indonesian Union officially ended. Relationships between the two countries continued to deteriorate.

When the PvdA voted with the opposition over a combined law to lower taxes and raise rents on 17 May 1955, this led to a crisis. The cabinet fell, but returned after 17 days when PvdA chairman Burger had reconciled the parties.

Prime Minister of South Africa D. F. Malan, Prime Minister Willem Drees and Minister of Colonial Affairs Willem Kernkamp at the Ministry of General Affairs on 9 June 1953.

Prime Minister Willem Drees, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alfred Gruenther and Minister of Defence Kees Staf at the Ministry of General Affairs on 15 October 1953.

Prime Minister of Greece Alexandros Papagos, Prime Minister Willem Drees and Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs Stefanos Stefanopoulos at the Ministry of General Affairs on 2 February 1954.

West-German Minister for Foreign Affairs Heinrich von Brentano and Prime Minister Willem Drees at the Ministry of General Affairs on 8 March 1956.

Ministers			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Willem Drees (1886–1988)	Prime Minister	General Affairs		7 August 1948 – 22 December 1958 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)	Deputy Prime Minister	Interior		2 September 1952 – 7 July 1956 [App]	Catholic People's Party
			Minister			6 December 1951 – 7 July 1956 [Retained] [App]
		Dr. Julius Christiaan van Oven (1881–1963)				7 July 1956 – 13 October 1956 [Acting]	Labour Party
		Johan Beyen (1897–1976)	Minister	Foreign Affairs		2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Independent Conservative Liberal
		Jo van de Kieft (1884–1970)	Minister	Finance		2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Labour Party
		Leendert Antonie Donker (1899–1956)	Minister	Justice		2 September 1952 – 4 February 1956 [Died]	Labour Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)				4 February 1956 – 15 February 1956 [Ad Interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Julius Christiaan van Oven (1881–1963)				15 February 1956 – 13 October 1956	Labour Party
		Dr. Jelle Zijlstra (1918–2001)	Minister	Economic Affairs		2 September 1952 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)	Minister	War and Navy		15 March 1951 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Christian Historical Union
		Ko Suurhoff (1905–1967)	Minister	Social Affairs and Health		2 September 1952 – 22 December 1958 [Continued]	Labour Party
		Jo Cals (1914–1971)	Minister	Education, Arts and Sciences		2 September 1952 – 24 July 1963 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Jacob Algera (1902–1966)	Minister	Transport and Water Management		2 September 1952 – 10 October 1958 [Continued]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Sicco Mansholt (1908–1995)	Minister	Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies		25 June 1945 – 1 January 1958 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Herman Witte (1909–1973)	Minister	Reconstruction and Housing		2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)	Minister	Social Work		2 September 1952 – 9 September 1952 [Ad Interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Frans-Jozef van Thiel (1906–1993)				9 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Willem Kernkamp (1899–1956)	Minister	Colonial Affairs		2 September 1952 – 18 July 1956 [Died]	Christian Historical Union
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)				18 July 1956 – 16 February 1957 [Acting] [Continued]	Christian Historical Union
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Ad de Bruijn (1887–1968)	Minister	Interior	• Public Organisations	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Joseph Luns (1911–2002)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	• United Nations • Netherlands- Indonesian Union • Netherlands New Guinea • Benelux • International Organizations	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Dr. Willem Hendrik van den Berge (1905–1987)	State Secretary	Finance	• Fiscal Policy • Tax and Customs • Governmental Budget	2 February 1953 – 13 October 1956	Independent Social Democrat
		Dr. Gerard Veldkamp (1921–1990)	State Secretary	Economic Affairs	• Small and Medium-sized Businesses • Consumer Protection • Tourism	10 October 1952 – 17 July 1961 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Ferdinand Kranenburg (1911–1994)	State Secretary	War and Navy	• Army • Air Force	1 June 1951 – 1 June 1958 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Vice admiral Harry Moorman (1899–1971)			• Navy	1 May 1949 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Piet Muntendam (1901–1986)	State Secretary	Social Affairs and Health	• Primary Healthcare • Elderly Care • Disability Policy	1 April 1950 – 1 October 1953 [Retained] [Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Aat van Rhijn (1892–1986)	State Secretary		• Social Security • Unemployment • Occupational Safety • Social Services	15 February 1950 – 22 December 1958 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Dr. Anna de Waal (1906–1981)	State Secretary	Education, Arts and Sciences	• Primary Education • Secondary Education • Special Education • Youth Care	2 February 1953 – 16 March 1957 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^Acting

^{Ad Interim}

^{Died in Office}

^{Appointed as Chairman of the Special State Commission}

• Nine cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors: Louis Beel (Administrative Law), Julius Christiaan van Oven (Roman Law), Jelle Zijlstra (Public Economics), Willem Kernkamp (Constitutional and Administrative Law and Arabic Literature), Willem Hendrik van den Berge (Public Economics), Gerard Veldkamp (Microeconomics), Piet Muntendam (Social Medicine), Aat van Rhijn (Fiscal Law) and Anna de Waal (Geography).
• Four cabinet members (later) served as Prime Minister: Willem Drees (1948–1958), Louis Beel (1946–1948) (1958–1959), Jelle Zijlstra (1966–1967) and Jo Cals (1965–1966).
• Four cabinet members would later be granted the honorary title of Minister of State: Willem Drees (1958), Louis Beel (1956), Jelle Zijlstra (1983) and Jo Cals (1966).
• Two cabinet members Johan Beyen and Sicco Mansholt are considered Founding fathers of the European Union.
• The age difference between oldest cabinet member Julius Christiaan van Oven (born 1881) and the youngest cabinet member Gerard Veldkamp (born 1921) was 39 years, 222 days.
• Had both the oldest and youngest cabinet members in Dutch History when they took office: Julius Christiaan van Oven was 74 years, 90 days years old and Gerard Veldkamp was 31 years, 105 days years old.
• Anna de Waal was the first female cabinet member in Dutch History.

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees III Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees II Rijksoverheid

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