Harold Holt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harold Holt, 1964
Harold Holt and Lyndon B. Johnson, October 1966
Harold Holt (2nd from left) at the SEATO summit in 1966

Harold Edward Holt (born August 5, 1908 in Sydney , † probably on December 17, 1967 ) was an Australian politician and from January 22, 1966 to December 17, 1967 the 17th Prime Minister of the country. He is particularly remembered today for the circumstances of his death.

Career

Holt was elected to the House of Representatives for the United Australia Party in 1935 . At 27, he was one of the youngest members. In 1940 he joined the army without giving up his seat. Shortly afterwards he became Minister of Labor and earned the nickname "Gunner Holt". From 1945 he belonged to the Liberal Party .

He was considered a bon vivant, but in 1947 he married Zara Fell, a fashion designer, and adopted their three children. After eight years of opposition, he became minister again in 1949 and expanded the immigration program of his predecessor. After 30 years in parliament, he became Prime Minister in 1966.

Holt's predecessor Robert Menzies had sent Australian troops into the Vietnam War . During a state visit by Harold Holt to US President Lyndon B. Johnson in June 1966, Holt repeated Johnson's campaign slogan All the Way with LBJ to underscore the US support of the US in the war in Vietnam and thus sparked controversy in Australia.

death

On December 17, 1967, Holt went swimming with a friend on Cheviot Beach near Point Nepean near the Portsea resort south of Melbourne . While the friend only stayed near the shore and already felt a strong current into the open sea there, Holt swam further out. The 59-year-old was never seen again and his body was never found. He was pronounced dead on December 19, 1967. According to the results of a commission of inquiry, Holt has in all likelihood been undone by an unpredictable current within the kelp belt . Holt snorkeled and dived .

There were rumors of a suicide, an assassination attempt by a political opponent, a faked death in order to "run away" with his lover; the thesis of Anthony Gray in his book The Prime Minister Was a Spy that he was picked up as a Chinese agent by a submarine or kidnapped by the CIA because he wanted to withdraw the Australian troops from the Vietnam War or by the Vietnamese because that's exactly what he didn't want.

A long-wave transmitter in Australia was named in his honor and the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Center , a swimming pool , was built in his honor . The US Navy christened a frigate of the Knox-class frigate in the name USS Harold E. Holt .

literature

  • Ian Hancock: Harold Edward Holt ' . In: Michelle Grattan (ed.): Australian Prime Ministers . New Holland, Frenchs Forest (New South Wales), 2000, ISBN 1-86436-756-3 , pages 270-285.
  • Bill Bryson , among others, deals with the circumstances of his death : Breakfast with Kangaroos: Australian Adventures . Goldmann, Munich, 2002, ISBN 3-442-45379-8 . American title: In a Sunburned Country . Doubleday, New York, 2000, ISBN 0-38540817-X . UK and Australia edition title: Down Under . Doubleday, London, 2000, ISBN 0-38540817-X .

Web links

Commons : Harold Holt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Coroner rules Holt conspiracy theories 'fanciful' . ABC , September 2, 2005.
  2. ↑ a b Die Welt - The Premier Who Swam into the Sea and Disappeared Forever , accessed December 23, 2017
  3. ^ History of Harold Holt Swim Center . City site of Stonnington City , November 21, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Holt, Harold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holt, Harold Edward (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian politician and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH 5th August 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: December 17, 1967
Place of death Point Nepean near Melbourne