Swedish politician and prime minister (196976, 19826), born in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied in the USA at Kenyon College, then took up law at Stockholm University. He joined the Social Democratic Labour Party (SAP) in 1949, entered the government in 1963 and held several ministerial posts before assuming the leadership of the Party and becoming prime minister. Although losing his parliamentary majority in 1971, he successfully carried out major constitutional reforms, but was defeated in 1976 over taxation proposals to fund the welfare system. He was returned to power, heading a minority government in 1982, and was re-elected in 1985, but was shot and killed while walking home with his wife after a visit to a cinema. The motive and identity of the killer remain a mystery.
Olof Palme|
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| 26th Prime Minister of Sweden | |
|---|---|
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In office 1969 – 1976 1982 – 1986 |
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| Preceded by |
Tage Erlander Thorbjörn Fälldin |
| Succeeded by |
Thorbjörn Fälldin Ingvar Carlsson |
| Born |
January 30, 1927 Stockholm, Stockholms län |
| Died |
February 28, 1986 (assassinated) Sveavägen, Stockholm |
| Political party | Social Democrats |
| Spouse | Lisbet Palme |
Sven Olof Joachim Palme (Olof Palme (help·info)) (January 30, 1927 – February 28, 1986) was a Swedish politician.
Palme was the leader of the Social Democratic Party from 1969 to 1986 and was the Prime Minister of Sweden with a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet government from 1982 until his assassination in 1986.
Early life and education
Palme was born in Östermalm, Stockholm, Sweden. During his time at university, Palme became involved in student politics, working with the Swedish National Union of Students.
Palme attributed his becoming a socialist to three major influences:
In 1947, he attended a debate on taxes between the Social Democrat Ernst Wigforss, the conservative Jarl Hjalmarsson and the liberal Elon Andersson The time he spent in the United States in the 1940s made him realise how wide the class divide was in America, and the extent of racism against blacks A trip in Asia in 1953 had opened his eyes to the consequences of colonialism and imperialism.Political career
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In 1953, Palme was recruited by social democratic prime minister Tage Erlander to work in his secretariat.
Olof Palme held several cabinet posts from 1963 and onwards. When party leader Tage Erlander stepped down in 1969, Palme was unanimously elected as the new leader by the Social Democratic party congress and succeeded Erlander as Prime Minister.
Palme's subsequent 125-month tenure as Prime Minister, and his untimely death, made him the most internationally-known Swedish politician of the 20th century (with the possible exception of the two humanitarians Raoul Wallenberg and Dag Hammarskjöld).
Radicalism
Olof Palme became the leader of a generation of Swedish Social Democrats who politically stood much further to the left than their predecessors.
Palme was a controversial political figure on the international scene: his outspoken criticism of the United States for the Vietnam War;
Expressing support for the national liberation movements in Latin America and Palestine, Palme was wary of similar activities inside the USSR, including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While Swedish right-wing opposition supported Baltic national liberation movements, Palme accused the members of the Moderate Party of "returning to that crusading spirit aiming to 'liberate' Eastern Europe that prevailed in conservative groups in the West during the Cold War" and also accused the Moderates of creating a "danger to the safety of the Swedish security policy" (see report to Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation seminar on April 13, 1999).Despite such accusatory statements by Palme and completely contrary to official policy, Sweden had in fact secretly maintained far-reaching military co-operation with the West over a long period, and was even under the protection of a U.S. military security guarantee (see Swedish "neutrality" during the Cold War). ,
Assassination
Olof Palme could often be seen without any bodyguard protection, and the night of his murder was one such occasion.
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