Willem Drees Jr.

Willem "Wim" Drees Jr. (24 December 1922 – 5 September 1998) was a Dutch politician of the Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70) party and economist.

Willem Drees Jr.
Willem Drees Jr. in 1973
Member of the Court of Audit
In office 4 October 1977 – 1 January 1984
Chair	Harry Peschar
Minister of Transport and Water Management
In office 6 July 1971 – 21 July 1972
Prime Minister	Barend Biesheuvel
Preceded by	Joop Bakker
Succeeded by	Bé Udink
Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives
In office 5 September 1972 – 20 August 1977
Preceded by	Jan Berger
Succeeded by	Ruud Nijhof
In office 11 May 1971 – 6 July 1971
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Jan Berger
Parliamentary group	Democratic Socialists '70
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 5 September 1972 – 20 August 1977
In office 11 May 1971 – 6 July 1971
Parliamentary group	Democratic Socialists '70
Leader of the Democratic Socialists '70
In office 8 January 1971 – 20 August 1977
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Ruud Nijhof
Personal details
Born	Willem Drees Jr. (1922-12-24)24 December 1922 The Hague, Netherlands
Died	5 September 1998(1998-09-05) (aged 75) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	Democratic Socialists '70 (1970–1983)
Other political affiliations	Independent Social Democrat (from 1983) Labour Party (1946–1970) Social Democratic Workers' Party (1945–1946)
Spouse	Anna Gescher ​ ​ (m. 1947; died 1988)​
Children	Marijke Drees (born 1948) Fransien Drees (born 1950) Willem B. Drees (born 1954) and 2 other daughters
Parent	Willem Drees (1886–1988) (father)
Relatives	Jacques Wallage (son-in-law)
Alma mater	Erasmus University Rotterdam (Bachelor of Economics, Master of Economics, Doctor of Philosophy)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Economist · Accountant · Mathematician · Financial analyst · Nonprofit director · Professor

Drees worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies from 1945 until 1947 and as a financial analyst at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1947 until 1950. Drees worked as Deputy Director of the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis from 1 January 1950 until 1 January 1956 and as a civil servant for the Ministry of Finance as Director-General of the department for Budgetary Affairs from 1 January 1956 until 1 September 1969. In August 1969 Drees was appointed as Treasurer-General of the Ministry of Finance, serving from 1 September 1969 until 8 January 1971. In December 1970 Drees was approached by the Chairman of the newly founded Democratic Socialists '70 Jan van Stuijvenberg to seek the leadership for the election of 1971. Drees accepted and was unopposed in his candidacy and was elected as Leader and became the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the Democratic Socialists '70 for the election on 8 January 1971, he resigned as Treasurer-General that same day. After the election the Democratic Socialists '70 entered the House of Representatives with 8 seats. Drees was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and became the Parliamentary leader of the Democratic Socialists '70 in the House of Representatives, taking office on 11 May 1971. Following the cabinet formation of 1971 Drees was appointed as Minister of Transport and Water Management in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 after the Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70) retracted their support following their dissatisfaction with the proposed budget memorandum to further reduce the deficit. The Democratic Socialists '70 cabinet members resigned on 21 July 1972. For the election of 1972 Drees again served as Lijsttrekker. The Democratic Socialists '70 suffered a small loss, losing 2 seats and now had 6 seats in the House of Representatives. Drees returned as a Member of the House of Representatives and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 5 September 1972. For the election of 1977 Drees once more served as Lijsttrekker. The Democratic Socialists '70 suffered a big loss, losing 5 seats and now had only 1 seat in the House of Representatives. Drees took responsibility for the defeat and sequentially announced he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader and a Member of the House of Representative on 20 August 1977.

Drees semi-retired from active politics and became active in the public sector, in September 1977 Drees was nominated as a Member of the Court of Audit, serving from 4 October 1977 until 1 January 1984. After his retirement, Drees occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director in the public sector (International Institute of Social History, Society for Statistics and Operations Research, Transnational Institute, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, European Cultural Foundation and the International Statistical Institute)