Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician and farmer who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1979 to 1982. From 1971 to 1985, he was leader of the Centre Party.

Upon first taking office in 1976, he was the first non-Social Democratic prime minister in 40 years, and the first since the 1930s not having worked as a professional politician since his teens. He was also the last Swedish prime minister to not be from the Social Democrats or Moderate Party.

Early life

thumb|left|Fälldin at the Centre Party congress in [[Sollefteå, 1952.]]

Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin was born on 24 April 1926 in Högsjö parish, Ångermanland. He was the son of the farmer Nils Johan Fälldin and his wife Hulda (née Olsson),

who were involved in agriculturally focused political and civic associations. He completed his formal schooling at the age of 19. In 1956, he and his wife, as a newlywed young couple, took over a small farm. However, the farming authorities did not approve the purchase, as the farm was considered too small and too run down for production, and so refused to provide farm subsidies. This fight led him into the youth branch of the Swedish agrarian party Farmers' League (), which in 1958 changed its name to the Centre Party. He and his family maintained their farm throughout his political life, and when he resigned from politics in 1985, he immediately returned to it.

Political rise

Political beginnings

thumb|left|A Centrist poster for the [[1970 Swedish general election|1970 elections, featuring (left to right) Johannes Antonsson, party leader Gunnar Hedlund, and Fälldin. The text reads: "Experience, youthful thinking. The Centre."]]

Fälldin entered the Swedish national political stage when he was elected to the Second Chamber of the Swedish Riksdag in 1958 for the agrarian-rooted Centre Party. In that election, the Centre Party overtook the Liberals as the second-largest party.

Competing against his rival Johannes Antonsson, he won a party election to became vice-chairman of the party in 1969. Fälldin was able to secure the position without the support of the chairman, Gunnar Hedlund.

In 1971, Fälldin succeeded Hedlund as party chairman. This made him the leader of the largest opposition party, and thus the frontrunner for prime minister from the nonsocialist bloc. However, by 1973, Fälldin adopted a strong anti-nuclear stance due to his interactions with the scientist Hannes Alfvén and the anti-nuclear Centrist politician Birgitta Hambraeus. Around the same time, the government of Social Democratic prime minister Olof Palme had proposed a plan to develop 15 nuclear reactors by 1985 in response to the 1973 oil crisis, which was opposed to Fälldin's vision of a "green revolution". The Centre Party was thus the only major political party in an industrialized western country of the 1970s to take an anti-nuclear stance. The members of the nonsocialist bloc emphasized different policies. Fälldin and the Centrists pushed for decentralisation, while the Liberals emphasized environmental and tax policies, and the Moderate Party placed focus on tax and educational reforms. Fälldin also accused the Social Democrats of failing to fight unemployment. Although Fälldin had recently adopted his anti-nuclear stance, nuclear power was not a major issue in the 1973 election, The difference in votes between the blocs was over 3,700. Due to this, the Liberals and Moderates placed little to no emphasis on nuclear energy during the campaign, in sharp contrast to its heavy emphasis in the Centrist ads. The three parties initially agreed to a two-year pause on orders for new nuclear reactors.

During the campaign, Fälldin's political opponents praised him for honesty and similarities to rural voters, but criticized his lack of foreign policy experience and his inability to understand English. The Centre party's percentage dropped slightly from the previous election, The party had seen its share of the vote increase in every election from 1956 to 1973, with a small recession in 1964. The 1976 election would begin a consistent trend of decreases in the party's vote share, Fälldin appointed Liberal leader Per Ahlmark to the newly created position of deputy prime minister and as minister for employment. Moderate Party leader Gösta Bohman became the finance minister. He also appointed fellow Centrist Karin Söder to serve as foreign minister, making her the first woman to hold that role. There were four other women in the cabinet. Ahlmark left party politics

Two years later, however, the coalition fell apart over the issue of Swedish dependency on nuclear power (with the Centre Party taking a strong anti-nuclear stand), which caused the Centrists to leave the government. Fälldin presented his resignation on 5 October 1978, and was succeeded on 18 October by Ola Ullsten, who formed a minority Liberal government. That year, Fälldin also sued Aftonbladet for 1 krona after they published a satirical interview with him from a mental hospital in which they claimed he had schizophrenia. Fälldin claimed that this was illegal, but later lost the case.

Following the 1979 election, Fälldin regained the post of prime minister, despite his party suffering major losses and losing its leading role in the centre-right camp, primarily due to public disenchantment with the Centre Party over its compromise on nuclear power with the nuclear-friendly Moderates, and he again formed a coalition government with the Liberals and the Moderates. This cabinet also lasted for two years. On 4 May 1981, the Moderates withdrew from the coalition due to disagreements over tax policy. However, they offered tacit support to the government so as not to trigger an early election. Fälldin continued as prime minister until the election in 1982, when the Social Democrats regained power as the Socialist bloc won a majority in the Riksdag. On 8 October 1982, Fälldin was succeeded by Palme. Fälldin pursued a mix of tax cuts and spending increases, which resulted in Sweden developing unprecedentedly high annual deficits. However, he also took some steps to decrease spending. Plans were made to decrease part-time pension benefits from 65 to 50% of income. It also increased fees for certain types of medical care and housing, and, following Denmark's model, shifted some management of social services onto local governments. Plans were also developed to reduce sick pay from 90% to 80% of income, intended to be implemented in 1983, but these plans were scrapped following Fälldin's defeat in 1982. In 1981, Fälldin agreed with the Social Democrats to delay certain tax cuts until 1983, which caused Bohman to resign from his position and pull the Moderates out of the coalition. The U.S. viewed Fälldin as more pro-American due to his less anti-American rhetoric. However, his actual policy did not adopt a strong pro-American shift, and he soon reiterated the government's commitment to Swedish neutrality.

Fälldin was critical of the European Community (EC), and did not assign a high priority to relations with the organization. He did not want Sweden to form closer ties with the EC, a policy which would be sharply reversed by the Social Democrats in the 1980s. Fälldin attended the North–South Summit in October of 1981.

Post-premiership

thumb|right|Fälldin with Centrist politician [[Anna-Karin Hatt in 2011.]]

After a disastrous second election defeat in 1985, in which the party received 12.45% of votes, Fälldin faced massive criticism from his party. He resigned as party leader on 5 December 1985. Fälldin was offered the position of a county governor, but he turned the offer down. Several subsequent Centre Party leaders personally sought his advice.

Personal life

thumb|right|Fälldin smoking his signature pipe and signing an autograph in the 1960s. His wife Solveig is to the left.

In 1956, he married Solveig Öberg (born 1935), daughter of the farmer Albert Öberg and Sofia (née Näsman).

Fälldin was a pipe smoker, but he quit in 1996 after receiving coronary artery surgery. In his final years, his health deteriorated, and he was treated for many illnesses, including angina, pneumonia, and dizziness. He died at the age of 90, on 23 July 2016. The funeral was held on 11 August 2016 in Härnösand Cathedral, and he was buried at Högsjö Cemetery in Högsjö, Härnösand Municipality.

Legacy

During his 27 years as a national politician, Fälldin was generally appreciated in most political camps for his straightforwardness, unpretentiousness, and willingness to listen to all views. His two periods as Prime Minister were far from easy; trying to get three very different parties to work together in a coalition, while Sweden underwent its worst recession since the 1930s. Fälldin's popularity came through his image as a simple northern sheep farmer whose political career stemmed from strong moral conviction. During the 2024 European Parliament election in Sweden, the Centre Party used the phrase as a slogan, representing the party's support of stopping imports of Russian fossil fuel and ending EU subsidies to fossil fuels.

The U 137 crisis was dramatized in the 2024 Swedish satirical series Whiskey on the Rocks. Fälldin was portrayed by the Swedish actor Rolf Lassgård, who was reportedly Fälldin's favorite actor.

Awards and decorations

  • 50x50px Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (November 1990)
  • 50x50px Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (1 July 1999)

Cabinets

  • Fälldin I Cabinet
  • Fälldin II Cabinet
  • Fälldin III Cabinet

References

Bibliography

Further reading

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