Tage Erlander

Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as the 25th prime minister of Sweden and leader of the Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969. Previously, he served as minister of education from 1945 to 1946, and was a member of parliament from 1932 to 1973. During his premiership, Sweden developed into one of the world's most advanced welfare states, with the "Swedish Model" at the peak of its acclaim and notoriety. Ideologically a socialist, his uninterrupted tenure of 23 years as head of the government is longest ever in Sweden and in any democracy. Born to a poor family in Ransäter, Erlander later studied at Lund University. He became active in local politics in 1930, and in 1932 became a member of the Riksdag. Becoming a member of the World War II coalition government in 1944, Erlander rose unexpectedly to the leadership upon the death of Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson in October 1946, maintaining the position of the Social Democrats as the dominant party in the country. Known for his moderation, pragmatism and self-irony, Erlander often sought approval from the liberal-conservative opposition for his policies, de facto dropping all pretences of wide-scale nationalizations whilst introducing reforms such as universal health insurance, pension additions and a growing public sector, although stopping short of raising tax levels above the average OECD levels at the time. Until the 1960s, income taxes were lower in Sweden than in the United States. For most of his time in power, Erlander ran a minority government of the Social Democrats. From 1951 to 1957, he instead ran a coalition with the Farmers' League. The Social Democrats held a majority of seats in the upper house for most of this time and this allowed Erlander to remain in power after the 1956 general election, when the right-wing parties won a majority. A snap election in 1958 then reversed this result. In foreign policy, he initially sought an alliance of Nordic countries, but without success, instead maintaining strict neutrality while spending heavily on the military (but ultimately rejecting nuclear capability and signing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1968). Erlander's mandate coincided with the post–World War II economic expansion, in Sweden known as the record years, in which Sweden saw its economy grow to one of the ten strongest in the world, and subsequently joined the G10.