Louis Beel

Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1946-1948; 1958-1959)

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|

His Excellency

Louis Beel

Official portrait, c. 1958

Vice-President of the Council of State
In office
1 August 1959 – 1 July 1972
Monarch| Juliana
Preceded by| Bram Rutgers
Succeeded by| Marinus Ruppert
Member of the Council of State
In office
1 June 1959 – 1 August 1959
In office
1 April 1958 – 22 December 1958
Vice President| Bram Rutgers
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office
22 December 1958 – 19 May 1959
Monarch| Juliana
Deputy| Teun Struycken
Preceded by| Willem Drees
Succeeded by| Jan de Quay
In office
3 July 1946 – 7 August 1948
Monarch| Wilhelmina
Deputy| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Willem Schermerhorn
Succeeded by| Willem Drees
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office
2 September 1952 – 7 July 1956
Monarch| Juliana
Prime Minister| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Josef van Schaik
Succeeded by| Teun Struycken
High Commissioner of Dutch East Indies
In office
29 October 1948 – 18 May 1949
Monarch| Juliana
Prime Minister| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Hubertus van Mook
(as Lieutenant Governor-General)
Succeeded by| Tony Lovink
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
27 July 1948 – 7 September 1948
In office
4 June 1946 – 3 July 1946

Ministerial offices

Minister of Social Affairs and Health
In office
22 December 1958 – 19 May 1959
Prime Minister| Himself
Preceded by| Ko Suurhoff
Succeeded by| Charles van Rooy
Minister of Justice

Ad interim

In office
4 February 1956 – 15 February 1956
Prime Minister| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Leendert Antonie Donker
Succeeded by| Julius Christiaan van Oven
Minister of Social Work

Ad interim

In office
2 September 1952 – 9 September 1952
Prime Minister| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Office established
Succeeded by| Frans-Jozef van Thiel
Minister of the Interior
In office
6 December 1951 – 7 July 1956
Prime Minister| Willem Drees
Preceded by| Frans Teulings (ad interim)
Succeeded by| Julius Christiaan van Oven (ad interim)
In office
23 February 1945 – 15 September 1947
Prime Minister|

See list

* Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
(1945)
* Willem Schermerhorn
(1945–1946)
* Louis Beel
(1946–1947)

Preceded by| Hendrik van Boeijen (ad interim)
Succeeded by| Piet Witteman
Minister of Colonial Affairs

Ad interim

In office
30 August 1947 – 3 November 1947
Prime Minister| Himself
Preceded by| Jan Jonkman
Succeeded by| Jan Jonkman
Personal details
Born|

Louis Joseph Maria Beel

(1902-04-12)12 April 1902
Roermond, Netherlands
Died| 11 February 1977(1977-02-11) (aged 74)
Utrecht, Netherlands
Political party| Catholic People's Party
Other political
affiliations| Roman Catholic State Party (1933–1945)
Spouse|

Jet van der Meulen

(m. 1926; died 1971)​

Alma mater| Radboud University Nijmegen (LL.B., LL.M., PhD)
Occupation|

* Politician
* civil servant
* jurist
* lawyer
* researcher
* author
* professor
* nonprofit director

Louis Joseph Maria Beel (12 April 1902 – 11 February 1977) was a Dutch politician of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 3 July 1946 until 7 August 1948 and from 22 December 1958 until 19 May 1959.[1]

Beel studied Law at the Radboud University Nijmegen obtaining a Master of Laws degree and worked as a civil servant in Eindhoven and for the provincial executive of Overijssel from July 1929 until May 1942 and as a researcher at his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduating as a Doctor of Law in Administrative law and during World War II worked as a lawyer in Eindhoven from May 1942 until January 1945. Shortly before the end of the War, Beel was appointed as Minister of the Interior in the Gerbrandy III cabinet, the last government-in-exile taking office on 23 February 1945. After a cabinet formation, Beel retained his position in the national unity Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet. After the 1946 general election Beel was asked to lead a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation with Labour Leader Willem Drees formed the Beel I cabinet and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as Minister of the Interior taking office on 3 July 1946.

After the 1948 general election, Beel failed to achieve a new coalition following a difficult cabinet formation and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 27 July 1948. Beel left office following the installation of the Drees–Van Schaik cabinet on 7 August 1948 and continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher. In September 1948, Beel was nominated as the next high commissioner of the Dutch East Indies, serving from 29 October 1948 until 18 May 1949 and worked as a professor of administrative law and public administration at his alma mater and the Catholic Economic University from October 1949 until December 1951. Following a cabinet reshuffle he was again appointed as minister of the interior in the Drees I cabinet, taking office on 6 December 1951. After the 1952 general election, Beel continued his office in the Drees II cabinet and also became deputy prime minister, taking office on 2 September 1952. On 7 July 1956 Beel, resigned after his appointment to lead a special commission investigating a political crisis concerning the royal family. In February 1958, Beel was nominated as a Member of the Council of State taking office on 1 April 1958. After the fall of the Drees III cabinet, Beel was asked to lead an interim cabinet until the next election, and following a successful cabinet formation formed the caretaker Beel II cabinet and again became Prime Minister of the Netherlands and dual served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health taking office on 22 December 1958.

Before the 1959 general election, Beel indicated that he would not serve another term as prime minister or not stand for the election. Beel left office a second time following the installation of the De Quay cabinet on 19 May 1959. Beel continued to be active in politics and in July 1959 was nominated as the next vice-president of the Council of State, serving from 1 August 1959 until 1 July 1972.

Beel retired from active politics at 70 and became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government. Beel was known for his abilities as an efficient manager and effective consensus builder. Beel was granted the honorary title of minister of state on 21 November 1956 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he was diagnosed with leukemia in August 1976, dying six months later at the age of 74. He holds the distinction as the only prime minister to have served two non-consecutive terms after World War II and because of his short terms in office his premiership is therefore usually omitted both by scholars and the public in rankings but his legacy as a minister in the 1940s and 50s and later as vice-president of the Council of State continue to this day.[2][3][4][5][6]

## Biography

[edit]

### Early life

[edit]

Louis Joseph Maria Beel was born on 12 April 1902 in Roermond, a town with a bishop's see in the province of Limburg, in the very south of the Netherlands. He grew up in a predominantly Roman Catholic community and went to school at the famous Bisschoppelijk College (Diocesan College) of Roermond. He graduated in 1920 and found work as clerk-volunteer at the municipality of Roermond. Two years later he became secretary to the Educational Religious Inspector of the Roermond diocese, Monsignor Petrus van Gils. When in 1923 a Catholic University was founded in Nijmegen (presently known as the Radboud University Nijmegen), Monsignor van Gils insisted on his secretary becoming a part-time law student in Nijmegen. In 1924 Beel began commuting between Roermond and Nijmegen. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1925 he found a new job as an administrative assistant in the government of the eastern province of Overijssel. He moved to its capital, the town of Zwolle, and left his place of birth Roermond. During the time he lived in Zwolle, Beel got married and his first child, a son, was born. In addition to being a provincial civil servant, Beel accepted a part-time lectureship at an institute for professional training, Katholieke Leergangen, and he wrote his first articles on legal subjects.

In 1928 Beel obtained his master's degree in law at Radboud University Nijmegen. Subsequently, he applied for a better job, and managed to find one as a clerk at the municipality of Eindhoven, also in the south of the Netherlands at that time a booming city as a result of the establishment of the Philips group. With his wife, his son and his mother-in-law he moved to Eindhoven in 1929 and lived there for more than fifteen years. Three daughters were born there. Beel's professional career progressed rapidly and in less than one year he became a principal clerk. As he had in Zwolle, Beel proved to be an industrious man. He continued his part-time lecturing at the Katholieke Leergangen, he published regularly in the legal press and in 1935 he obtained his doctorate in law at the Radboud University Nijmegen.

### World War II

[edit]

At the time of his resignation as a municipal Civil servant in 1942, Beel was Director of Social Affairs and Deputy Town Clerk. Beel resigned because he opposed the German occupation of the Netherlands. To avoid being taken prisoner by the German occupational forces he frequently had to go in hiding. Eindhoven was liberated on 18 September 1944 at the time of the World War II military offensive known as Operation Market Garden. Dutch resistance fighters, massively manifesting themselves immediately after the Germans had gone, saw Beel as one of them. He became the spokesman of a group of prominent citizens in Eindhoven, who had resisted the Germans during the war. The group was not in favour of a continuation of the pre-war political party-lines, with the ever-dominant Anti-Revolutionary Party. In this vein they sent an Address, drafted by Beel, to Queen Wilhelmina, who still resided in London. Beel was urged to accept the function of adviser to the Military Administration (Militair Gezag), the temporary government in the liberated southern part of the Netherlands under Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. In this capacity Beel was invited by the Dutch government-in-exile to travel to London and to advise on dealing with the war victims. He arrived in London on 1 January 1945. On 10 January he visited at her request Queen Wilhelmina in her English mansion Mortimer. This visit gave a decisive turn to Beel's life.

Prime Minister Louis Beel and Chancellor of Austria Leopold Figl at The Hague's Staatsspoor railway station on 21 October 1952 Vice-President of the Council of State Louis Beel, Prince Claus, and Prime Minister Piet de Jong during the announcement following the birth of Prince Willem-Alexander on 2 May 1967

### Politics

[edit]

The Queen intuitively saw in Beel, a Roman Catholic from the South who ostentatiously had rejected Nazism, the prototype of the patriot and of the sort of "renewed" person she was looking for to replace the members of her war-cabinet, of whom she no longer wholeheartedly approved. Beel was promptly appointed Minister of the Interior in the third Gerbrandy cabinet. This cabinet resigned immediately after the end of the war, in May 1945, to free the path for a new one to be formed by two a liberal, Wim Schermerhorn, and social democrat, Willem Drees. They invited Beel to remain as Minister of the Interior in their cabinet (the Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet). According to his own words, Beel reluctantly agreed. He moved with his family from Eindhoven to Wassenaar, a villadom close to The Hague, the government's residence.

A post-war parliamentary election could finally be held in May 1946. In the election campaign Beel voiced the political resistance from the religious and liberal parties against the economic planning and socialism favoured by Prime Minister Schermerhorn and his political supporters. Unlike the British election of the previous year where the Labour Party gained a decisive victory, in the Netherlands the "Socialist breakthrough" which had been expected did not materialise in this first post-war election. The Catholic People's Party was the big winner, though no party had an overall majority. Queen Wilhelmina requested Beel to form a new cabinet. He became prime minister of a Roman/Red coalition, which he called the "New Truce", since it was the first cabinet in Dutch history of socialists and Roman Catholics. This Beel cabinet set the course for the political and economic development of the post-war Netherlands.

In social policy, temporary measures were introduced in December 1946 entitling wage-earners to an allowance for the first and second child under the age of 18. The Old Age Pensions Emergency Provisions Act of May 1947 provided means-tested pensions for all persons over the age of 65 regardless of their previous employment record, and the Pensioners' Family Allowances Act of July 1948 introduced family allowance for those in receipt of invalidity, old age, or survivors' benefits "according to the Invalidity Insurance Act 1919."[7] In 1947, the duration of sickness benefits was doubled from 26 to 52 weeks.[8] Under a law of 15 July 1948 (Stb. I 309) the age limit for the right to orphan's annuity under the Disability law went up from 14 to 16 years.[9]

Prime Minister Louis Beel inspecting native soldiers during his visit to Sumatra

In 1948 a parliamentary election was again required for a constitutional renewal, which was thought necessary to solve the problems emerging in the Dutch East Indies, where the nationalists led by Sukarno and Hatta had proclaimed the independence of their country immediately after the Japanese surrender. The KVP won again and Beel was asked to form a new cabinet. He might again have become prime minister, but he failed to form the grand coalition of socialist, Catholic and liberal parties, which he deemed necessary to secure the corrections in the Constitution. Josef van Schaik, a fellow KVP politician, took over and succeeded in forming a broad based cabinet by offering the socialist Willem Drees the function of prime minister, Josef van Schaik himself being satisfied with the function of deputy prime minister. Drees appointed Beel High Commissioner of the Crown in the Dutch East Indies, as a successor to Lieutenant Governor General Hubertus van Mook, a man of proven managerial abilities, who had to resign unwillingly.

The Dutch government in The Hague made several attempts to reach an agreement with the Republic of Indonesia. Beel, stationed in Batavia (now named Jakarta), was not in favour of such an agreement because of his suspicions - later proven to be right - that the new Republic did not want the establishment of a federal state, as was planned in the Dutch decolonisation policy. Under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council an agreement was achieved in May 1949 to hold a Round Table Conference in The Hague in order to prepare the transfer of sovereignty. Beel made efforts to thwart the agreement. However he was unsuccessful and he resigned from his Office of High Commissioner of the Crown.

Beel returned to his home at the end of May 1949 and a few months later he accepted a professorate in administrative law at his Alma Mater in Nijmegen, one of his early ambitions.

On 7 November 1951, Johan van Maarseveen, Minister of the Interior, suddenly died. Prime Minister Drees appealed to Beel to return to office. Again reluctantly, Beel accepted Prime Minister Drees' offer. He also held the function of Minister of the Interior in the next Drees cabinet after the elections of 1952. In July 1956 Beel asked that he be allowed to resign from government to become, as a private citizen, chairman of a committee of three "wise men" that was requested by Queen Juliana and the Consort Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld to help solve problems pertaining to the royal family. The problems were related to faith healer Greet Hofmans, whom the Queen had invited to the royal palace in order to cure her youngest daughter, who had been born half blind in 1947. The renowned German magazine Der Spiegel had accused Mrs. Hofmans of playing a "Rasputin" role in the royal family. Within a month the committee had fulfilled its task by writing a secret report, which banished the sensitive affair from publicity. Three months later Beel was appointed Minister of State, a prestigious title of honour.

In 1958 after an interlude of eighteen months without a public office, Beel was appointed member of the Council of State. Soon afterwards however he was called upon to form his second cabinet - a rump cabinet from December 1958 until May 1959, that had to dissolve parliament and call a new election. After this election Beel assisted the Roman Catholic politician Jan de Quay in forming a Catholic–liberal cabinet, thus ending the Roman/red coalition, which had been Beel's own initiative in 1946. The De Quay cabinet appointed Beel as Vice-President of the Council of State, the most prestigious office in the Dutch administration, the head of state being the honorary President of the Council of State.

Whereas other political leaders, who had come forward after the war, one by one left the political scene and the "participation-democracy" of the New Left movement created a new type of politician, Beel retained in the authority of the Council of State a great influence on government. He owed his role to the way he performed his high office as well to his position of confidence with the royal family. In various affairs the royals faced, Beel's taciturn way of acting on behalf of the monarchy and his prudent pulling the strings behind the scene as Vice-President of the Dutch Council of State gave him the nickname "The Sphinx". The power he derived from both positions christened him "Viceroy of the Netherlands". The authority of Beel and his controlling influence in political circles became manifest when new cabinets had to be formed or cabinet crises had to be warded off. Through the thirteen years of his vice-presidency Beel had a steering hand in nearly every cabinet formation, including the dramatic formation of the cabinet of the social democrat Joop den Uyl in 1973.

### Later life

[edit]

As from 1 July 1972, at the age of seventy, Beel resigned (prematurely) from his office of Vice-President of the Council of State. His wife had died some years before. He retired with his mentally handicapped eldest daughter and her attendant to the quiet village of Doorn. On 11 February 1977 Beel died in the University Hospital Utrecht from leukemia.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Beel, Louis Joseph Maria (1902-1977)" (in Dutch). Huygens ING. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
2. ^ (in Dutch) Dr. L.J.M. (Louis) Beel - Geschiedenis VPRO Archived 8 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ (in Dutch) Dr. L.J.M. (Louis) Beel
4. ^ (in Dutch) Willem Drees gekozen tot ‘Dé premier na WO II’, Geschiedenis24.nl, 15 January 2006
5. ^ (in Dutch) NRC-enquête: Drees en Lubbers beste premiers sinds 1900, NRC Handelsblad, 28 September 2013
6. ^ (in Dutch) I&O Research, I&O Research, 13 March 2020
7. ^ Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II, Volume 2 edited by Peter Flora
8. ^ Privatization of the absenteeism scheme: Experiences from the Netherlands, Julia van den Bemd, Wolter Hassink
9. ^ ZITTING 1955—1956 — 4341 Nadere wijziging van de Invaliditeitswet MEMORIE VAN TOELICHTING No. 3

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Louis Beel at Wikimedia Commons

* (in Dutch) Mr.Dr. L.J.M. (Louis) Beel Parlement & Politiek

Political offices

Preceded by

Hendrik van Boeijen
(ad interim)

|  Minister of the Interior
1945–1947  | Succeeded by

Piet Witteman

Preceded by

Willem Schermerhorn

|  Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1946–1948  | Succeeded by

Willem Drees

Preceded by

Hendrik van Boeijen
(in 1945)

|  Minister of General Affairs
1947–1948
Preceded by

Jan Jonkman

|  Minister of Colonial Affairs
(ad interim)
1947  | Succeeded by

Jan Jonkman

Preceded by

Hubertus van Mook

as Lieutenant Governor-General  |  High Commissioner of Dutch East Indies
1948–1949  | Succeeded by

Tony Lovink

Preceded by

Frans Teulings
(ad interim)

|  Minister of the Interior
1951–1956  | Succeeded by

Julius Christiaan van Oven
(ad interim)

Preceded by

Josef van Schaik

|  Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1952–1956  | Succeeded by

Teun Struycken

New office |  Minister of Social Work
(ad interim)
1952  | Succeeded by

Frans-Jozef van Thiel

Preceded by

Leendert Antonie Donker

|  Minister of Justice
(ad interim)
1956  | Succeeded by

Julius Christiaan van Oven

Preceded by

Ko Suurhoff

|  Minister of Social Affairs and Health
1958–1959  | Succeeded by

Charles van Rooy

Preceded by

Willem Drees

|  Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Minister of General Affairs
1958–1959  | Succeeded by

Jan de Quay

Preceded by

Bram Rutgers

|  Vice-President of the Council of State
1959–1972  | Succeeded by

Marinus Ruppert

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Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport

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* Samkalden
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Ministers of sport of the Netherlands

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport

* Beel
* Van Thiel
* Klompé
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* Van Doorn
* Gardeniers-Berendsen
* Van der Louw
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* Ritzen
* Borst
* Bomhoff
* De Geus
* Hoogervorst
* Klink
* Schippers
* Bruins
* Van Rijn
* Ark
* De Jonge
* Helder

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of social work of the Netherlands

Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work

* Beel
* Van Thiel
* Klompé
* Schouwenaar-Franssen
* Vrolijk
* Klompé
* Engels
* Van Doorn
* Gardeniers-Berendsen
* Van der Louw
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* Gardeniers-Berendsen

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Company
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(1610–1800)|

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(1800–1948)|

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* Van Twist (1851–1856)
* Pahud (1856–1861)
* Van de Beele (1861–1866)
* Mijer (1866–1872)
* Loudon (1872–1875)
* Van Lansberge (1875–1881)
* s'Jacob (1881–1884)
* Van Rees (1884–1888)
* Pijnacker Hordijk (1888–1893)
* Van der Wijck (1893–1899)
* Rooseboom (1899–1904)
* Van Heutsz (1904–1909)
* Idenburg (1909–1916)
* Limburg-Stirum (1916–1921)
* Fock (1921)
* De Graeff (1926–1931)
* De Jonge (1931–1936)
* Van Starkenborgh (1936–1942)
* Van Mook (1942–1948)
* Beel (1948–1949)
* Lovink (1949)

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of colonial affairs of the Netherlands

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

* Van der Heim
* Cambier
* Van der Heim
* Van der Capellen
* Van der Hoop
* Goldberg
* Falck
* Elout
* Van Ufford
* Van Gobbelschroy
* Clifford
* Brocx
* Van den Bosch
* Baud
* Rijk
* Baud
* Van den Bosch
* Pahud
* Mijer
* Rochussen
* Lotsy
* De Groot van Kraaijenburg
* Uhlenbeck
* Betz
* Fransen van de Putte
* Mijer
* Trakranen
* Hasselman
* De Waal
* Brocx
* Van Bosse
* Fransen van de Putte
* Van Goltstein van Oldenaller
* Alting Mees
* Van Bosse
* Van Rees
* Van Goltstein van Oldenaller
* De Brauw
* Van Erp Taalman Kip
* Van Bloemen Waanders
* Weitzel
* Sprenger van Eyk
* Keuchenius
* Mackay
* Van Dedem
* Bergsma
* Cremer
* Van Asch van Wijck
* Bergansius
* Idenburg
* Fock
* Heemskerk
* Idenburg
* De Waal Malefijt
* Pleyte
* Rambonnet
* Pleyte
* Idenburg
* Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
* De Graaff
* Colijn
* Welter
* Koningsberger
* De Graaff
* Colijn
* Welter
* Van den Bussche
* Welter
* Gerbrandy
* Van Mook
* Schmutzer
* Logemann
* Jonkman
* Sassen
* Van Maarseveen
* Drees
* Peters
* Kernkamp
* Staf
* Helders
* Korthals

* v
* t
* e

Ministers of the interior of the Netherlands

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

* Gogel
* Van Stralen
* Mollerus
* Van Leyden van Westbarendrecht
* Twent van Raaphorst
* Van der Capellen
* Van Stralen
* Röell
* De Coninck
* Van Gobbelschroy
* De la Coste
* Van Doorn van Westcapelle
* De Kock
* Schimmelpenninck van der Oye
* Van der Heim van Duivendijke
* Vollenhoven
* Van Randwijck
* Van der Heim van Duivendijke
* Luzac
* De Kempenaer
* Thorbecke
* Van Reenen
* Simons
* Van Rappard
* Van Tets van Goudriaan
* Van Heemstra
* Thorbecke
* J. Geertsema
* J. Heemskerk
* Fock
* Thorbecke
* Van Bosse
* J. Geertsema
* J. Heemskerk
* Kappeyne van de Coppello
* Six
* Pijnacker Hordijk
* J. Heemskerk
* Mackay
* De Savornin Lohman
* Tak van Poortvliet
* Van Houten
* Goeman Borgesius
* Kuyper
* Rink
* T. Heemskerk
* Cort van der Linden
* De Beerenbrouck
* De Geer
* Kan
* De Beerenbrouck
* De Wilde
* Boeijen
* Burger
* Van Boeijen
* Beel
* Witteman
* Van Maarseveen
* Van Schaik
* Teulings
* Van Maarseveen
* Teulings
* Beel
* Van Oven
* Suurhoff
* Struycken
* Toxopeus
* Smallenbroek
* Samkalden
* Verdam
* Beernink
* M. Geertsema
* De Gaay Fortman
* Wiegel
* Van Thijn
* Rood
* Rietkerk
* Korthals Altes
* De Korte
* Van Dijk
* De Koning
* Van Dijk
* Dales
* Hirsch Ballin
* Van Thijn
* De Graaff-Nauta
* Dijkstal
* Peper
* Van Boxtel
* De Vries
* Remkes
* Ter Horst
* Hirsch Ballin
* Donner
* Spies
* Plasterk
* Blok
* Plasterk
* Ollongren
* Knops
* Ollongren
* Bruins Slot
* De Jonge
* Uitermark

* v
* t
* e

Second Beel cabinet (1958–1959)

* Preceded: Third Drees cabinet
* Succeed: De Quay cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Louis Beel (General Affairs and Social Affairs and Health)

Deputy Prime Minister|

* Teun Struycken (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations and Justice)

Ministers|

* Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs)
* Jelle Zijlstra (Finance and Economic Affairs)
* Kees Staf (War and Navy and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies)
* Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management)
* Herman Witte (Housing and Construction)
* Marga Klompé (Social Work)
* Gerard Helders (Colonial Affairs)

State Secretaries|

* Norbert Schmelzer (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations)
* Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs)
* Harry Moorman (Navy)
* René Höppener (Education, Arts and Sciences)

* v
* t
* e

Second Drees cabinet (1952–1956)

* Preceded: First Drees cabinet
* Succeed: Third Drees cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Willem Drees (General Affairs)

Deputy Prime Minister|

* Louis Beel (Interior) (1952–1956)

Ministers|

* Julius Christiaan van Oven (Interior) (Ad interim)
* Johan Beyen (Foreign Affairs)
* Jo van de Kieft (Finance)
* Leendert Antonie Donker (Justice) (1952–1956) (†)
* Louis Beel (Justice) (Ad interim)
* Julius Christiaan van Oven (Justice) (from 1956)
* Jelle Zijlstra (Economic Affairs)
* Kees Staf (War and the Navy)
* Ko Suurhoff (Social Affairs and Health)
* Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Jacob Algera (Transport and Water Management)
* Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies)
* Herman Witte (Reconstruction and Housing)
* Louis Beel (Social Work) (Ad interim)
* Frans-Jozef van Thiel (Social Work)
* Willem Kernkamp (Colonial Affairs) (1952–1956) (†)
* Kees Staf (Colonial Affairs) (1956–1957) (Ad interim)

Ministers without portfolio|

* A. C. de Bruijn (Economic Policy)
* Joseph Luns (United Nations Affairs and Colonial Policy)

State Secretaries|

* Willem Hendrik van den Berge (Finance)
* Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs)
* Ferdinand Kranenburg (War)
* Harry Moorman (Navy)
* Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health)
* Piet Muntendam (Social Affairs and Health) (1952–1953)
* Anna de Waal (Education, Arts and Sciences)

* v
* t
* e

First Drees cabinet (1951–1952)

* Preceded: Drees–Van Schaik cabinet
* Succeed: Second Drees cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Willem Drees (General Affairs)

Deputy Prime Minister|

* Frans Teulings (Civil Defence)

Ministers|

* Johan van Maarseveen (Interior) (1951) (†)
* Frans Teulings (Interior) (Ad interim)
* Louis Beel (Interior) (from 1951)
* Dirk Stikker (Foreign Affairs)
* Piet Lieftinck (Finance) (1951–1952)
* Willem Drees (Finance) (Ad interim)
* Hendrik Mulderije (Justice)
* Jan van den Brink (Economic Affairs)
* Kees Staf (War and the Navy)
* Dolf Joekes (Social Affairs and Health)
* Theo Rutten (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Hendrik Wemmers (Transport and Water Management)
* Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies)
* Joris in 't Veld (Reconstruction and Housing)
* Willem Drees (Colonial Affairs) (Ad interim)
* Leonard Peters (Colonial Affairs) (from 1951)

Minister without portfolio|

* Guus Albregts (Economic Policy)

State Secretaries|

* Nico Blom (Foreign Affairs)
* Ferdinand Kranenburg (War)
* Harry Moorman (Navy)
* Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health)
* Piet Muntendam (Social Affairs and Health)
* Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Lubbertus Götzen (Colonial Affairs)

* v
* t
* e

First Beel cabinet (1946–1948)

* Preceded: Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet
* Succeed: Drees–Van Schaik cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Louis Beel (General Affairs)

Deputy Prime Minister|

* Willem Drees (Social Affairs)

Ministers|

* Louis Beel (Interior) (1946–1947)
* Piet Witteman (Interior) (from 1947)
* Pim van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout (Foreign Affairs)
* Piet Lieftinck (Finance)
* Johan van Maarseveen (Justice)
* Gerardus Huysmans (Economic Affairs) (1946–1948)
* Sicco Mansholt (Economic Affairs) (Ad interim)
* Jan van den Brink (Economic Affairs) (from 1948)
* Alexander Fiévez (War)
* Alexander Fiévez (Navy) (Ad interim)
* Jules Schagen van Leeuwen (Navy) (1946–1947)
* Alexander Fiévez (Navy) (from 1947)
* Jos Gielen (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Hein Vos (Transport) (1946–1947)
* Hein Vos (Transport and Water Management) (from 1947)
* Johan Ringers (Public Works and Reconstruction (1946)
* Hein Vos (Public Works and Reconstruction (1946–1947) (Ad interim)
* Lambertus Neher (Reconstruction and Housing (1947–1948)
* Joris in 't Veld (Reconstruction and Housing (from 1948)
* Jan Jonkman (Colonial Affairs)

Ministers without portfolio|

* Eelco van Kleffens (United Nations Affairs)
* Lubbertus Götzen (Indonesian Monetary Policy)

* v
* t
* e

Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet (1945–1946)

* Preceded: Third Gerbrandy cabinet
* Succeed: First Beel cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Willem Schermerhorn (General Warfare)

Deputy Prime Minister|

* Willem Drees (Social Affairs)

Ministers|

* Louis Beel (Interior)
* Eelco van Kleffens (Foreign Affairs) (1945–1946)
* Herman van Roijen (Foreign Affairs) (from 1946)
* Piet Lieftinck (Finance)
* Hans Kolfschoten (Justice)
* Hein Vos (Commerce and Industry)
* Jo Meynen (War)
* Jim de Booy (Navy and Shipping)
* Gerard van der Leeuw (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Steef van Schaik (Transport and Energy)
* Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies)
* Johan Ringers (Public Works and Reconstruction)
* Johann Logemann (Colonial Affairs)

Ministers without portfolio|

* Herman van Roijen (United Nations Affairs) (1945–1946)
* Eelco van Kleffens (United Nations Affairs) (from 1946)

* v
* t
* e

Third Gerbrandy cabinet (1945)

* Preceded: Second Gerbrandy cabinet
* Succeed: Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet

Prime Minister|

* Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (General Warfare and Justice)

Ministers|

* Louis Beel (Interior)
* Eelco van Kleffens (Foreign Affairs)
* Gerardus Huysmans (Finance)
* Hans Gispen (Commerce, Industry and Agriculture)
* Jan de Quay (War)
* Jan de Quay (Navy) (Ad interim)
* Jim de Booy (Navy and Shipping and Fisheries)
* Frans Wijffels (Social Affairs)
* Gerrit Bolkestein (Education, Arts and Sciences)
* Frans Wijffels (Water Management) (Ad interim)
* Theo Tromp (Water Management)
* Josef Schmutzer (Colonial Affairs)

Minister without portfolio|

* Edgar Michiels van Verduynen (Foreign Policy)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Netherlands
* Vatican

People|

* Netherlands
* Deutsche Biographie

*[c.]: circa
*[m.]: married
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