Editing Dries van Agt (section)

==Political career==

===Minister and deputy prime minister===
[[File:Premier Van Agt ontvangt Westduitse CDU-voorzitter Helmut Kohl, Bestanddeelnr 929-8963.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Dries van Agt and [[Leader of the Christian Democratic Union|German Leader]] [[Helmut Kohl]] at the [[Ministry of General Affairs]] on 13 September 1978.]]
[[File:Mondale en van Agt, Bestanddeelnr 930-2246.jpg|thumb|left|Vice President of the United States [[Walter Mondale]] and Prime Minister Dries van Agt during a press conference at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol Airport]] on 21 April 1979.]]
[[File:V.l.n.r. Premier Margareth Thatcher en Minister-President Dries van Agt op het t, Bestanddeelnr 931-3060.jpg|thumb|left|[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] and Prime Minister Dries van Agt at the [[Catshuis]] on 6 February 1981.]]
[[File:Persconferentie Helmut Schmidt , rechts premier Van Agt, Bestanddeelnr 932-2419.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor of West Germany]] [[Helmut Schmidt]] and Prime Minister Dries van Agt during a press conference at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol Airport]] on 9 July 1982.]]
[[File:Mark Rutte en Dries van Agt in het Torentje.jpg|thumb|left|Dries van Agt and Prime Minister [[Mark Rutte]] in [[Torentje|Het Torentje]] on 18 April 2011]]

Van Agt entered politics as a member of the [[Catholic People's Party]], which merged with the other two major Christian democratic parties in 1980 to form the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] (CDA). From 1968 to 1971, Van Agt was Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. From 1971 to 1973, he served as [[List of ministers of justice of the Netherlands|Minister of Justice]] in the [[First Biesheuvel cabinet|first]] and [[second Biesheuvel cabinet]]s.<ref name="NPOFocus">{{cite web|url=https://npofocus.nl/artikel/7666/wie-is-dries-van-agt|title=Wie is Dries van Agt?|access-date=24 June 2021|website=NTR Focus|language=Dutch|archive-date=1 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401230114/https://npofocus.nl/artikel/7666/wie-is-dries-van-agt|url-status=live}}</ref> He caused outrage when he tried to pardon the last three Nazi war criminals still in Dutch prisons (known as [[The Breda Four]]) in 1972. From 1973 to 1977, he served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Deputy Prime Minister]] and Minister of Justice in the [[Den Uyl cabinet]].<ref name="NPOFocus" />

===Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal===
In 1976, Van Agt was elected the first [[Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal]], then still a federation of the three confessional parties: the [[Christian Historical Union]], the [[Catholic People's Party]] and the [[Anti-Revolutionary Party]], which contested with a united list for the first time in the [[1977 Dutch general election|1977 general election]] (the merger followed in 1980). With Van Agt as its [[lead candidate]], the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] reversed years of decline in 1977 and returned to power.

===Prime minister in the Van Agt I cabinet===
In the parliamentary election of May 1977, the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] (PvdA) obtained its largest number of seats, so a second Den Uyl cabinet seemed likely. However, the tension between the [[Catholic People's Party]] and the Labour Party in the last coalition, combined with the fact that a coalition between the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] and the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD) was possible, the talks failed after a period of seven months. Eventually Van Agt negotiated a deal with VVD leader [[Hans Wiegel]]. From 19 December 1977 to 11 September 1981, Van Agt served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs in the Van Agt I cabinet.

===Prime minister in the Van Agt II cabinet===
In [[1981 Dutch general election|1981 general election]], the CDA and the VVD both lost parliamentary seats, so a continuation of the CDA–VVD coalition was not possible, and Van Agt was forced to enter into a coalition with the Labour Party and the [[Democrats 66]] (which, under Jan Terlouw, had gained a significant number of seats). Three months of difficult negotiations resulted in the [[Second Van Agt cabinet|Van Agt II cabinet]] (11 September 1981 – 29 May 1982). In this composition, Van Agt worked with [[Joop den Uyl]] again as Den Uyl was made Deputy Prime Minister and "super minister" of Social Affairs and Employment. The characterological and political differences led to several divisions, and in May 1982 the government fell.

The personal strife between Van Agt and Den Uyl had deteriorated to such an extent that when Den Uyl died from a [[brain tumor]] in 1987, Van Agt was not invited to the memorial service by the family. Den Uyl's wife Liesbeth argued that Van Agt had prevented the second Den Uyl cabinet from forming in 1977.

===Prime minister in the Van Agt III cabinet===
The caretaker government continued as a minority cabinet, with only ministers from the parties [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] and [[Democrats 66]], in the Van Agt III cabinet. For replacing the six [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] ministers, five new Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66 ministers were appointed, while Van Agt, in addition to being prime minister, took the position of [[Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] upon him.

A new parliamentary election was planned for September 1982. Although Van Agt by this point was worn out, he was persuaded to lead his party's list again, but shortly after the election he withdrew as a candidate for prime minister and was succeeded by [[Ruud Lubbers]].