View source for Piet de Jong

==After politics==
Following the end of his active political career, De Jong occupied many posts in industry and seats on numerous supervisory boards. In December 1990 he was selected to lead a diplomatic mission to [[Iraq]] to free Dutch hostages, but ultimately the mission was cancelled.

On 25 March 2010, De Jong, still visibly spirituous and active, gave a speech at ''[[Nieuwspoort]]'' about the publication of the biography of former [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] and the [[List of NATO Secretaries General|5th]] [[Secretary General of NATO]] [[Joseph Luns]].<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/video/146349-gehele-toespraak-piet-de-jong-over-joseph-luns.html Gehele toespraak Piet de Jong over Joseph Luns], NOS, 25 March 2010</ref> On 24 April 2010 during the annual [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] party conference, De Jong spoke about former [[Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands|deputy prime minister]] and [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] party leader [[Wouter Bos]] and his actions which led to the fall of the [[Fourth Balkenende cabinet|Balkenende IV cabinet]].<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/video/152945-oudcdapremier-piet-de-jong-haalt-uit-naar-wouter-bos.html Oud-CDA-premier Piet de Jong haalt uit naar Wouter Bos], NOS, 24 April 2010</ref>

After the [[2010 Dutch general election|2010 general election]], the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) suffered a disappointing election result, and ''[[informateur]]'' [[Ivo Opstelten]] announced the formation of a new centre-right coalition cabinet composed of the winner of the election, the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD), and De Jong's own CDA, but with the support of the [[Party for Freedom]] (PVV) of [[Geert Wilders]]. De Jong spoke out against this support and said that the PVV's stand on freedom of religion was a deal-breaker.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.nu.nl/politiek/2318527/kritiek-oud-premier-jong-cda.html Kritiek oud-premier De Jong op CDA], NU.nl, 24 Augustus 2010</ref>

On 30 March 2012, De Jong and several other prominent CDA members, including fellow former prime minister [[Ruud Lubbers]], former Ministers of Foreign Affairs [[Hans van den Broek]], [[Pieter Kooijmans]] and [[Ben Bot]], former [[Minister for Development Cooperation (Netherlands)|Ministers for Development Cooperation]] [[Piet Bukman]] and [[Agnes van Ardenne]], and former ministers [[Wim Deetman]] and [[Ernst Hirsch Ballin]] and former State Secretary [[Karien van Gennip]] all signed a petition of disapproval of the proposed cuts to the [[international development]] budget by the [[First Rutte cabinet|Rutte I cabinet]]. De Jong responded by announcing that he would leave the CDA if the cuts were implemented.<ref>{{in lang|en}} [http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/03/former_cda_ministers_warn_coal.php Former CDA ministers warn coalition not to cut aid budget], Dutchnews.nl, 30 March 2012</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/artikel/357233-waarschuwing-oudcdaministers.html Waarschuwing oud-CDA-ministers], Dutchnews.nl, 30 March 2012</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/artikel/357417-de-jong-dreigt-cda-te-verlaten.html De Jong dreigt CDA te verlaten], NOS, 30 March 2012</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.nu.nl/politiek/2776789/piet-jong-dreigt-cda-verlaten.html Piet de Jong dreigt CDA te verlaten], NU.nl, 31 March 2012</ref> He expressed satisfaction about the fall of the cabinet in 2012, calling it a "lame cabinet".

De Jong was present at the ascension of [[Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands|Willem-Alexander]] to the Dutch throne on 30 April 2013.<ref>{{cite web |date= 1 December 2013 |title= Vier premiers onder een dak in het Haagse Catshuis |url= https://www.omroepwest.nl/nieuws/2395747/vier-premiers-onder-een-dak-in-het-haagse-catshuis |trans-title= Four prime ministers under one roof in the Hague Catshuis |website= Omroep West |language= Dutch |access-date= 15 June 2025}}</ref> He was prime minister at the time of the King's birth. At the age of 98 he was the oldest person attending the ceremony.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/koningshuis/artikel/501534-genodigden-naar-nieuwe-kerk.html Genodigden naar Nieuwe Kerk], NOS, 30 April 2013</ref>

On 1 December 2013, De Jong and fellow former prime ministers [[Dries van Agt]] and [[Ruud Lubbers]] were present at the presentation of the book ''Polarisatie en hoogconjunctuur'', a book about Dutch politics in the 1960s. De Jong received the first copy from incumbent prime minister [[Mark Rutte]].<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/az/documenten-en-publicaties/toespraken/2013/12/02/toespraak-rutte-bij-boekpresentatie.html Toespraak Rutte bij presentatie boek over kabinet-De Jong] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214221938/http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/az/documenten-en-publicaties/toespraken/2013/12/02/toespraak-rutte-bij-boekpresentatie.html |date=14 December 2013 }}, Rijksoverheid, 2 December 2013</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.parlement.com/id/vjf9b3m74rg2/nieuws/hechte_team_de_jong_laveerde_soepel_door Hechte team-De Jong laveerde soepel door de roerige jaren zestig], Parlement & Politiek, 3 December 2013</ref>

===Reputation and legacy===
During his time as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, he was accused of not showing enough strength and too little action when needed during the social revolution of the 1960s by some of the counterculture of that time. De Jong was frequently labelled as old-fashioned, and that old-fashioned image was reinforced by his [[bowler hat]], which he wore frequently outside, a custom he picked up during his time living in England during World War II. In contrast the "[[silent majority]]" were reported to be content with the policies of his cabinet. More than forty years later, De Jong is considered by many to have made well thought-out decisions during his time as prime minister and when needed showed enough strength with a far more progressive ideology than he was credited for at the time.

Politicians from the entire political spectrum have labelled De Jong as one of the better prime ministers of the Netherlands. In an episode of the Dutch television programme ''[[Netwerk]]'' aired in 2005, he is even labelled as perhaps the best postwar Prime Minister of the Netherlands. This view has been shared by numerous high-profile current and former Dutch politicians, including former prime minister [[Dries van Agt]]<ref>{{in lang|nl}} {{YouTube|8BjLDiP0Esc|Dries van Agt over de Palestijnse kwestie- Deel 2- Pauw en Witteman-09 09 2009}}, Pauw en Witteman, 9 September 2009</ref> and former deputy prime minister [[Hans Wiegel]], who praised De Jong being perhaps the best prime minister after World War II.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4512/Cultuur/archief/article/detail/2490198/2001/11/28/Na-30-jaar-eindelijk-lof-voor-Piet-de-Jong.dhtml Na 30 jaar eindelijk lof voor Piet de Jong], Trouw, 28 November 2001</ref> Former [[Senate (Netherlands)|Member of the Senate]] and [[Righteous Among the Nations]] [[Johan van Hulst]] said that of all the prime ministers he worked with in twenty-five years, De Jong was the best.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20120122005637/http://altijdwat.ncrv.nl/pagina/gesprek-oud-senator-johan-van-hulst-100 Het Gesprek – oud-senator Johan van Hulst (100)], NCRV, 23 May 2011</ref> On 23 March 2011, the history channel ''Hollanddoc'' devoted an episode about his life with the quote "Attention for the least-known prime minister after World War II, but perhaps the most successful: Piet de Jong"<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.hollanddoc.nl/kijk-luister/documentaire/p/profiel-afl--piet-de-jong.html Profiel Afl. Piet de Jong] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727173918/http://www.hollanddoc.nl/kijk-luister/documentaire/p/profiel-afl--piet-de-jong.html |date=27 July 2011 }}, Hollanddoc.nl, 22 March 2011</ref> In November 2011, the second edition of his in 2001 released biography ''Van buitengaats naar Binnenhof. P.J.S. de Jong'' (From offshore to Binnenhof. P.J.S. de Jong) became well received and further enhanced his reputation: "He showed himself a team leader with perspective and humor. The ideal manager in a time of crisis of authority, polarization and social unrest."<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719114037/http://www.uitgeverijboom.nl/boeken/geschiedenis/van_buitengaats_naar_binnenhof__p_j_s__de_jong_9789461055613/ Van buitengaats naar Binnenhof. P.J.S. de Jong], Uitgeverijboom.nl, 25 November 2011</ref>

De Jong said to [[Juliana of the Netherlands|Queen Juliana]], for whom he had served as aide-de-camp, when he was sworn in as State Secretary for Defence, "Majesty, there you see how a person comes down in the world." (Dutch: "Majesteit, zo ziet u maar hoe een mens aan lager wal kan raken.") And in a response to a delicate question of a radio reporter, when asked what his thoughts on pornography were, he said, "As far as I know, pornography is the only working medicine against seasickness." When later a Belgian minister spoke negatively about the [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] ideas of the Dutch on pornography, he responded, "Well, the Belgians aren't a seafaring people, are they?"<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/Nieuws/archief/article/detail/1715489/2005/06/11/Na-het-grote-nee-en-de-metamorfose-van-de-VVD-lijken-de-dagen-van-het-kabinet-geteld-Dat-onze-premier-charisma-ontbeert-soit-maar-hij-schiet-tekort-in-de-meest-alledaagse-communicatie.dhtml Na het grote nee en de metamorfose van de VVD lijken de dagen van het kabinet geteld Dat onze premier charisma ontbeert, 'soit', maar hij schiet tekort in de meest alledaagse communicatie], Trouw, 11 June 2005</ref>