(b. Kajana, Finland, 3 Sept. 1900; d. 31 Aug. 1986) Finnish; Prime Minister 1950 – 3, 1954 – 6, President 1956 – 81 The son of a forestry foreman, Kekkonen attended school in his native township and university in Helsinki. Here he graduated in law in 1926 and took his doctorate in 1936. From 1927 to 1931 he was a lawyer with a local government federation and 1933 – 6 with the Ministry of Agriculture. From 1936 to 1956 Kekkonen was an Agrarian (Centre) Party member of parliament and served as Speaker 1948 – 50. In 1936 – 7 he was Minister of Justice, in 1937 – 9 Minister of the Interior, and in 1944 – 6 Minister of Justice again.
In this latter post Kekkonen helped build bridges with the Soviet Union after the two Finnish-Russian wars. Similarly he helped bring about the 1948 Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union that laid the groundwork for Finnish neutrality policy. This reflected a subtle awareness of Soviet security fears and a determination to defend the democratic Finnish political system — though as President Kekkonen was not above using foreign policy considerations to his own domestic political advantage. He was greatly helped by establishing friendly personal relations with successive Soviet leaders, based partly on his earthy realism and partly on his ability to outlast even his hosts when it came to the consumption of hard liquor. In domestic politics Kekkonen skilfully defended the interests of the poorer agricultural areas of Finland, incorporated the Communists into the political system without prejudice to his country's freedom, and dominated the political scene from 1963 to 1975. In foreign policy the presidency gave him large powers which he used to help bring about free trade agreements with EFTA in 1961 and with the EC in 1973 while encouraging trade with the East to show a profit. He also rebuilt Finland's defences and hosted the 1975 Helsinki Conference on Security. In 1981 he was compelled by ill-health to resign office.
Urho Kekkonen
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Urho Kekkonen (1900-1986) was Finland's president from 1956 to 1981. He kept the nation on a steady political course, despite continuing to keep that nation actively politically neutral to assure peaceful relations with its powerful neighbor, the Soviet Union. This policy became known as "Finlandization" by detractors.
Youth Spent in War, Journalism, Sport
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen was born on September 3, 1900, in Pielavesi, Finland, the son of a farmer. His father later became employed in some aspect of timber operations. His career has been variously described as a sawmill operator, timber foreman, and forestry manager. His mother was a farmer's daughter. The family lived in the rural province of Kainuu. Kekkonen attended the Lyseo Lukio Kajaani. He was not an exemplary student and had to repeat the seventh grade.
Kekkonen originally planned to become a writer. He frequently wrote short stories and plays. Among his influences were Jack London, Jules Verne, and Mark Twain. His other favorite subjects were history and gymnastics.
He became a war correspondent during the Finnish Civil War, which was fought in 1916 through 1917. He fought in the White Army and reported from their positions in Eastern Finland. During his service, Kekkonen commanded an execution patrol squad. As such, he was witness to the execution of six Red Army prisoners.
After the war, Kekkonen continued his journalistic career at Kajaanin Lehti, a newspaper. He also worked as a magazine columnist. He was active in other organizations including the Academic Karelia Society.
He made his entry onto the world stage via international athletics where he won an Olympic gold medal in the high jump. He also was an active member of The Finnish Sports Organization and the Finnish Olympic Committee. This served as his springboard into politics.
He married Sylvi Uino, who was a writer, in 1926. They met while she was working in the secretariat of the security police. They would eventually have two children. Kekkonen graduated from the University of Helsinki with a Bachelor of Civil Law degree in 1928. He completed his doctoral degree in 1936.
Began Ascent in Finnish Government
In 1933, Kekkonen joined the Agrarian or Maalaisliitto party, which would become known as the Center party in 1965. Among his first political jobs was a post at the ministry of agriculture. He made his ascent in Finnish politics from his post as a parliament member. He served in various national political offices between 1936 and 1956. During World War II, Kekkonen was director of the Karelian evacuees welfare center and commissioner for coordination. He was Finland's prime minister from 1950 until 1956.
Kekkonen was also known as a political columnist. He adopted numerous pseudonyms for publishing this work beginning in 1942. His noms de plumes included Pekka Peitsi ("Peter Pikestaff"), Olli Tampio, Veljenpoika, and Liimatainen. His work frequently appeared in magazines including Suomen Kuvalehti, even during his tenure as prime minister. He once demurred being considered as a writer, saying "I haven't even written a single poem."
In 1950, he lost his bid for the presidency to Juho Kusti Paasikivi. Kekkonen wrote a political pamphlet "Onko Maallamme Malttia Vaurastua" ("Does our country have the patience to get rich?"), published in 1954. In the document, he laid out his ideas on Finnish economic policy.
Won Election, Adopted Policy Known as "Finlandization"
Two years later when he ran again for president, he was elected by a two vote margin over Paasikivi. This was the last national election the country would hold until 1981. It was feared any open election might jeopardize Finland's relations with the neighboring Soviet Union and compromise the nation's independence. In fact, every Finnish attempt to hold a national election was said to be seen by the Soviets as a desire by the Finns to put an end to their neutrality.
Perhaps to outsiders this policy might have seemed as equal parts Finnish cowardice and Soviet bullying. It is difficult, however, to understand in a vacuum. Finland achieved political independence from Russia during the Russian Revolution. During World War II, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in 1939 and 1944, forcing its neighbor to reduce its borders. Once World War II had ended, Finland chose to adopt a policy of political neutrality for the sake of self-preservvation. This was not initiate by Kekkonen, but certainly he made sure relations with the Soviets were never in jeopardy. The nation had, under Kekkonen, become what The New Republic writer Joyce Lasky Shub characterized as "a silent victim of Soviet power."
Walter Laqueur, writing in Commentary, observed that in the 1970s Finland had to kowtow, by virtue of its proximity to Soviet Union, to display "readiness to acquiesce in Soviet wishes." This Kekkonen-extended political deference policy became known as "Finlandization." Richard Lowenthal was said to have originated the phrase in the 1960s to describe this strategic political subordination, but Laqueur is credited with modifying the term to fit with the Finns' self-imposed submissive policies, which were adopted well before being approached by their overbearing neighbor.
Laqueur said "given Finland's geopolitical situation, it was obvious that certain concessions toward the Soviets had to be made. But I also argued that Urho Kekkonen … had carried this trend much too far (though he himself was not a Communist or even a socialist). It was not the policy of wisdom, maturity, and responsibility that Kekkonen and his supporters claimed, and furthermore it set a bad example for the rest of Europe."
This issue is still open to debate and has been examined closely by political commentators and historians. So too has Kekkonen's role in Finnish-Soviet relations. There is no clear consensus on these issues.
Enjoyed Reputation as an Effective Deal-Maker
Kekkonen himself, however, is said to have been a gregarious leader. Seppo Salonen, an editor of one of Finland's leading newspapers told The New Republic in 1983 that Kekkonen could "get anybody to do anything. When he wanted to score a point with [Soviet leaders Nikita] Khrushchev or [Leonid] Brezhnev, he'd get them into a sauna and tell them funny stories."
While in office, Kekkonen developed a reputation for following through on every deal he struck. He made good on five-year trade agreements with the Soviets throughout the 1960s. He also brought Finland to the attention of the Common Market. As a result, Finland became one of the world's leading producers of oil rigs.
Perhaps it was his earlier interest in writing or a result of his marriage to an author, but nevertheless Kekkonen made sure to keep informed about writing and the arts throughout his career. Young writers and artists were frequently guests at his residence, Tamminiemi. After Hannu Salama, the writer, was tried and convicted on blasphemy charges in connection with his writing the novel Juhannustanssit ("Midsummer Dance") in 1968, Kekkonen immediately pardoned him.
Kekkonen left office in 1981. There remains debate about how his retirement came about. Some suggest he was pressured into retirement. Other opinions suggest ill health led him to step down. He was succeeded by Mauno Koivisto, a Social Democrat.
Diary-Keeping Offered Insight into Kekkonen
Kekkonen continued to live in Tamminiemi until his death. He reportedly continued to write and read frequently, favoring authors such as Anatole France, Mika Waltari, and a number of other Finnish authors and works such as Machiavelli's The Prince and Don Quixote. The residence is now the Urho Kekkonen Home Museum.
About two years into his first term as president, he had started keeping a diary, a practice which he faithfully continued until 1981, shortly before his resignation. The diaries were never meant to be published, but in 2000, his son, Matti Kekkonen, and his grandson, Timo Kekkonen, consented to their publication in a four-volume set. According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, "The only parts to be left out of the books will be Kekkonen's observations about his own family. There are to be indications in the published work whenever a cut is made."
Ironically, Kekkonen never completed his memoirs. The first volume was completed by Paavo Haavikko in 1981. Later, Juhani Suomi wrote a multi-volume biography of Kekkonen, a project that has spanned some two decades. Suomi also contributed historical perspectives to the diaries and has been credited for his ability to read Kekkonen's handwriting.
Rumors Persisted As Did Legacy Debates
Even after leaving politics and well after his death, rumor and conjecture continued to swirl about Kekkonen. One such rumor held that he had been a Soviet agent, but, says Laqueur, 'they were dismissed as base calumnies by his official biographer - who denied everyone else access to the relevant archival material." When the files of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party (CPSU) were eventually made public, it became clear Kekkonen and his cronies "had been paid many millions of finnmarks through the office of the KGB: some of this money was used for their election campaigns, but there were also payments for personal use." But, notes Laqueur, "perhaps he would have acted as he did even if the Soviets had never paid him a single ruble."
More controversy arose when a tell-all book by Anita Hallama was released in 2001. She claimed to have had an affair with Kekkonen that had started in the early 1960s. Her husband was the Finnish ambassador to the Soviet Union. Reuters said the publication of this correspondence between the two served to confirm the "open secret" about their relationship. Each of their spouses purportedly knew about this relationship. The book delved into how Kekkonen developed policy, purportedly even how he discussed specific issues with Hallama.
"Urho Kekkonen was a great statesman in the true meaning of the word," said Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen in a September 3, 2000, speech marking the Urho Kekkonen centenary seminar at the House of Estates. "The aim of Finland's active policy of neutrality - as Kekkonen, not the Soviet Union, understood it was to strengthen Finland's international standing. Good relations with the USSR prepared the way for consistent integration into cooperation between the Western democracies…. Finland was neither an outpost of the West nor a cat's-paw of the Soviet Union. When certain Western commentators saw fit to cast aspersions about us in conversation, I couldn't help asking what exactly their own countries did in 1940.
"Talk of Finlandization is justified, but in the case of foreign policy it's valid to ask which did better, the cat or the mouse. Finland came out on top in the Cold War," continued Lipponen. He says at the end of his term in office, however, Kekkonen "was interfering in the action of the Prime Minister and the Government in a way that was totally unacceptable…. The neo-worship and concentration of power that had grown up around the old man kept him in office too long. On the other hand, maybe Kekkonen himself knew no other way of life, and would have been unable to resist interfering in things as ex-President."
Several politicians and political commentators have noted that there has yet to be any sufficient distance from events to truly gauge what impact on Finland and the world Kekkonen might have had or to accurately determine what his legacy might be. "The jury is still out on what sort of verdict history will hand down to Kekkonen. The image of the man presented by the diaries is naturally bound to the times of which they report, in just the same way as our present image of Kekkonen is bound to what we know now. And above all we know what ultimately happened to the Soviet Union," wrote Unto Hämäläinen, in a review of the diaries published in Helsingin Sanomat in 2002. "Kekkonen could not even begin to guess at such an outcome, and in his weak moments he lost faith that Finland would come through intact." Kekkonen died on August 31, 1986, in Helsinki, Finland.
Books
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition, 2002.
Contemporary Newsmakers, Gale Research, 1986.
Periodicals
Commentary, January 1993.
The New Republic, October 31, 1983.
Reuters, September 6, 2001.
Online
"Journal entries indicate President Kekkonen considered resignation during Czech crisis of 1968: A review of Volume II of Urho Kekkonen's diaries, (ed. Juhani Suomi)," Helsingin Sanomat online, October 1, 2002, http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20021001IE9 (February 28, 2003).
"Kekkonen diaries to appear as a book," Helsingin Sanomat online, August 15, 2000, http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20000815xx10 (February 28, 2003).
"Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen at the Urho Kekkonen centenary seminar at the House of Estates, September 3, 2000," Ajankohtaista, http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/vn/liston/text.lsp?r=762&=en (February 28, 2003).
"The Silenced Media: The Propaganda War between Russia and the West in Northern Europe," book review, The American Historical Review, History Cooperative online, http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/105.1/br_158.html (February 28, 2003).
"Urho Kaleva Kekkonen," Lyseo Lukio Kajaani, http://lyseolukio.kajaani.fi/english/kekkonen.htm (February 28, 2003).
"Urho Kaleva Kekkonen," Pegasos website, http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/ukekko.htm (February 28, 2003).
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Urho Kaleva Kekkonen |
| Wikipedia: Urho Kekkonen |
- Kekkonen redirects here. For other uses, see Kekkonen (disambiguation).
| Urho Kekkonen | |
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| In office 1 March 1956 – 27 January 1982 |
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| Preceded by | Juho Kusti Paasikivi |
| Succeeded by | Mauno Koivisto |
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| In office 20 October 1954 – 3 March 1956 |
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| Preceded by | Ralf Törngren |
| Succeeded by | Karl-August Fagerholm |
| In office 17 March 1950 – 17 November 1953 |
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| Preceded by | Karl-August Fagerholm |
| Succeeded by | Sakari Tuomioja |
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| Born | 3 September 1900 Pielavesi, Finland |
| Died | 31 August 1986 (aged 85) Helsinki, Finland |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Political party | Agrarian League 1956-1965: Centre Party 1965-1982 |
| Spouse(s) | Sylvi Salome Uino |
| Religion | Lutheran |
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (Finnish pronunciation: [urhɔ kɑlɛʋɑ kekːɔnɛn] (
listen); 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986) was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland (1950–1953, 1954–1956) and later as President of Finland (1956–1982) [1]. Kekkonen continued the "active neutrality" policy of President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, which came to be known as the Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line. This policy allowed Finland to retain independence and trade with both the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Warsaw Pact. Kekkonen was the longest-serving President of Finland.
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Biography
Early life
Kekkonen was born in Pielavesi in the Savo region of Finland, the son of Juho Kekkonen and Emilia Pylvänäinen, but spent his childhood in Kainuu. His family were farmers (though not poor tenant farmers, as some of his supporters claimed). His father, originally a farm-hand and forestry worker, eventually became a forestry manager and stock agent at Halla Ltd. Kekkonen had some distant German ancestry [2]. It was claimed that Kekkonen's family had lived in a poor farmhouse without a chimney; however, it was later found out that the photographic evidence to back up this claim was fake, and that the chimney had simply been retouched off the photographs depicting Kekkonen's childhood home. His school years did not go smoothly. During the Finnish Civil War, he fought for the White Guard and led a firing squad in Hamina. Kekkonen personally admitted to having killed a man in battle, but not to a mass execution of Red troops committed by his squad. However, a photograph taken at the time seems to prove that Kekkonen was there during the execution.
In independent Finland, Kekkonen first worked as a journalist in Kajaani. He moved to Helsinki in 1921 to study law, graduating as a Master of Laws in 1926. During his studies he worked as a policeman from 1921 to 1927. It was during this time that he met his future wife, Sylvi Salome Uino (1900–1974), a typist at the police office. They had two sons, Matti (born 1928) and Taneli (1928–1985). Matti Kekkonen served as a Centre Party member of Parliament from 1958 to 1969.
In 1927, Kekkonen became a lawyer and worked for the Association of Rural Municipalities. However, he had to resign in 1932 due to abrasive comments. Kekkonen became a Doctor of Laws in 1936. At Helsinki University he was active in the Northern Ostrobothnian student nation and was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper Ylioppilaslehti 1927-1928. He was also an active athlete. His best achievement as a sportsman was to become Finnish high jump champion (1.85 m) in 1924. The standing jump was his best discipline.
Early political career
Politically, he was a nationalist and his ideological roots lay in the nationalistic student politics of the newly independent Finland and the radicalism of the right. When the Academic Karelia Society (Akateeminen Karjala-Seura), an organization which favoured Finland's annexation of East Karelia, supported the far-right Mäntsälä revolt in 1932, Kekkonen and over 100 other moderate members resigned from the organization. According to Johannes Virolainen, a longtime Agrarian and Centrist politician, some Finnish right-wingers started to hate and mock Kekkonen already after this decision as a power-hungry opportunist (see Johannes Virolainen, "The Last Electoral Term" / Viimeinen vaalikausi, published in Finland in 1991). In 1933, Kekkonen joined the Agrarian League (later renamed the Centre Party). That year he also became a civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture and made his first attempt to get elected to the Parliament.
His second trial to get elected into the Parliament succeeded in 1936 and he became Justice Minister, serving from 1936 to 1937, where he committed a procedure that was known as the "Tricks of Kekkonen" (Kekkosen konstit) when he tried to ban the right-wing extremist Patriotic People's Movement (Isänmaallinen Kansanliike, IKL). The procedure was not entirely legal and was halted by the Supreme Court. He was also Minister of Home Affairs from 1937 to 1939.
He was not a member of the cabinets during the Winter War or the Continuation War. He opposed the Moscow peace treaty in the Parliament in March 1940 (being the sole member to vote against the treaty) and during the Continuation War, he served as the director of the Karelian Evacuees' Welfare Centre from 1940 to 1943 and as the Ministry of Finance's commissioner for coordination from 1943 to 1945, his task being to rationalise public administration. By that time, he had become one of the leading politicians within the so-called Peace opposition. In 1944, he again became Minister of Justice, serving until 1946, and had to deal with the war-responsibility trials. Kekkonen was a Deputy Speaker of the Parliament 1946–1947, and was the Speaker from 1948 to 1950 [3].
In the 1950 Presidential election, Kekkonen was chosen as the candidate of the Agrarian Party and conducted a vigorous campaign against the incumbent President Juho Kusti Paasikivi. Kekkonen finished third in the first and only ballot, receiving 62 votes in the electoral college, while Paasikivi was reelected with 171. After the election Paasikivi appointed Kekkonen as Prime Minister. In all his five cabinets he emphasized his role to create and maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union. He was an authoritarian person and embarrassed his opponents in public. He was ousted in 1953, although he returned as Prime Minister from 1954 to 1956. Kekkonen also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for periods in 1952–1953 and 1954 whilst he was Prime Minister. (For the number and composition of Kekkonen's five coalition governments, see for example "The President of the Finnish Republic 1956-1982" / Tasavallan presidentti 1956-1982, published in Finland in 1993-94. Also the Finnish government's website, www.vn.fi, has such information).
President of Finland
First term
In the presidential election of 1956, Kekkonen defeated the Social Democrat Karl-August Fagerholm by two votes in the electoral college (151-149) and was elected President. The 1956 presidential campaign was notably vicious, with many personal attacks against several major candidates, especially against Kekkonen. A tabloid gossip newspaper, "The Sensation News" (Sensaatio-Uutiset), accused Kekkonen of fistfighting, excessive drinking and extramarital affairs. The drinking and womanizing charges were partly correct: at times, in evening parties with his friends, Kekkonen got drunk, and he had at least two longtime mistresses (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., ed., "The Small Giant of the Finnish History" / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publishing Ltd., 2003; Pekka Hyvärinen, "The Man of Finland: Urho Kekkonen's Life" / Suomen mies. Urho Kekkosen elämä, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publications Ltd., 2000). As president, Kekkonen continued the neutrality policy of President Paasikivi, which came to be known as the Paasikivi-Kekkonen line. From the beginning he ruled with the assumption that the Soviet Union accepted only him. Because of defectors like Oleg Gordievsky and the opening of the Soviet archives it is known that keeping Kekkonen in power was the main task of the Soviet Union in its relations with Finland.
During Kekkonen's term, the balance of power between the Finnish Council of State and the President was heavily tilted towards the President. In principle and formally, parliamentarism was followed; governments were nominated by a parliamentary majority. However, the Kekkonen-era councils were often in bitter internal disagreement and the alliances broke down easily. New governments often tried to reverse their predecessors' policies.[4] Kekkonen extensively used his power to nominate ministers and railroaded new compositions of governments through the parliamentary process. He also used (publicly and with impunity) the old boy network to bypass the government and communicate directly with high officials. Only after Kekkonen's term, governments began to remain stable throughout the entire period between elections. It must be added, however, that during Kekkonen's presidency, a few parties were in most governments - mainly the Centrists, Social Democrats and Swedish People's Party - while the People's Democrats and Communists were often in government since 1966, and the Conservatives were in opposition for at least 20 years (see, for example, "What Where When 1994 - The Citizen's Yearbook" / Mitä Missä Milloin 1994 - Kansalaisen vuosikirja, published in Helsinki by Otava Publications Ltd. in 1993; "The Republic's President 1956-1982", published in Finland in 1993-94).
Kekkonen's policies, especially towards the USSR, were criticised within his own party by Veikko Vennamo, who broke off his Centre Party affiliation when Urho Kekkonen was elected president of Finland (1956). In 1959, Vennamo established his populistic Agrarian Party (also translated as the Rural Party), forerunner of the populistic and nationalistic,Perus- suomalaiset Basic Finns.
Second term
In April 1961 Kekkonen was already planning to dissolve parliament in order to influence the alliance behind his potential presidential rival Olavi Honka. In addition, the Soviet Union sent a diplomatic note in late October, citing an article of the FCMA treaty referring to the threat of war. Concerning this Note Crisis, the most common view is that the Soviet Union was motivated by a desire to ensure Kekkonen's re-election. After Honka dropped his candidacy, Kekkonen was re-elected by an overwhelming vote of 199 out of 300 electoral college votes in the 1962 Presidential election. In addition to his own party, Kekkonen had received the backing of the Swedish People's Party and the Finnish People's Party (a small classical liberal party). Also the Conservatives (National Coalition Party) quietly supported Kekkonen, although they had no official presidential candidate after Honka's withdrawal (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., "A Small Giant of the Finnish History" / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publishing Ltd., 2003). As a result of the note crisis, genuine opposition to Kekkonen disappeared, and he acquired an exceptionally strong - later even autocratic - status as the political leader of Finland.
Throughout his time as president, Kekkonen did his best to keep political rivals in check. The Centre Party's rival, National Coalition Party was kept in opposition despite good performance in elections. On a few occasions, the parliament was dissolved as the political composition did not please Kekkonen. Too prominent Centre Party members often found themselves sidelined, as Kekkonen negotiated directly with the lower lever. The so called "Mill Letters" of Kekkonen were a continuous stream of directives to high officials, politicians, journalists etc. Nevertheless, Kekkonen did not use coercive measures and some leading politicians, most notably Tuure Junnila and Veikko Vennamo, "branded" themselves as anti-Kekkonen.
In the 1960s Kekkonen was responsible for a number of foreign-policy initiatives, involving for example the Nordic nuclear-free zone, the border agreement with Norway and a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1969. The purpose of these initiatives was to avoid the enforcement of the military articles in the FCMA treaty - in other words, military cooperation between Finland and the Soviet Union - and thus to strengthen Finland's attempt to practice a policy of neutrality. Following the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 pressure for neutrality increased. Kekkonen informed the Soviets in 1970 that he would not continue as president, nor would the FCMA treaty be extended, if the Soviet Union was no longer prepared to recognize Finland's neutrality.
Third term
Kekkonen was re-elected for a third term in 1968. In that year's election, he received the support of five political parties - the Centre Party, the Social Democrats, the Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders (a short-lived SDP fraction), the Finnish People's Democratic League (a communist front), and the Swedish People's Party. Kekkonen received 201 votes in the electoral college, with the National Coalition party's candidate finishing in second place with 66 votes. Vennamo was the third presidential candidate and got 33 votes. Although Kekkonen had been re-elected with two-thirds of the vote, he was so displeased with his opponents and their behaviour that he publicly refused to be a presidential candidate again. Especially Vennamo infuriated Kekkonen with his bold and constant criticism of the President and his foreign policy. Kekkonen labelled Vennamo a "cheat" and "demagogue" (see, for example, "Urho Kekkonen's Diaries 2: 1963-1968" / Urho Kekkosen päiväkirjat 2: 1963-1968, and "Urho Kekkonen's Diaries 3: 1969-1974" / Urho Kekkosen päiväkirjat 3: 1969-1974, edited by Juhani Suomi and published in Finland around 2002-2004; Johannes Virolainen, "The Last Electoral Term," 1991; Pekka Hyvärinen, "Finland's Man: Urho Kekkonen's Life" / Suomen mies - Urho Kekkosen elämä, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publications Ltd., 2000).
Term extension
In 1973, he was re-elected by emergency law which saw his presidency extended by four years. This was accomplished by implying that, if he was not re-elected, the Soviets would not accept Finland's free trade agreement with the EEC. The tactic secured National Coalition's support and thus enabled the enactment of an emergency law (see, for example, Johannes Virolainen, "The Last Electoral Term"). The elimination of any significant opposition and competition meant de facto political autocracy for Kekkonen. The year 1975 can be regarded as marking the zenith of his power, when he dissolved parliament and hosted the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki with the assistance of a caretaker government.
Fourth term
In the 1978 Presidential election, Kekkonen's candidacy was blindly supported by nine political parties, including the Social Democratic, Centre and National Coalition parties, effectively meaning that there were no serious rivals left. Kekkonen humiliated his opponents by not appearing in televised presidential debates. Kekkonen won 259 out of the 300 electoral college votes, with his nearest rival, Raino Westerholm of the Christian Union, receiving 25 (see for example Juhani Suomi, "The Ski Trail Being Snowed In: Urho Kekkonen 1976-1981" / Umpeutuva latu - Urho Kekkonen 1976-1981, Helsinki: Otava Publications Ltd., 2000).
Why did Kekkonen cling to the Presidency until his rapidly worsening illness, arteriosclerosis, forced him to resign in October 1981? According to Finnish historians and political journalists, there were at least three reasons for this: First, he did not believe that any of his successor candidates would lead Finland's foreign policy toward the Soviet Union well enough. Secondly, at least until the summer of 1978, when he had to use all his diplomatic skills to reject the Soviet Defence Minister Ustinov's offer of a closer military co-operation between Finland and the Soviet Union without offending his guest, he believed that the Finnish-Soviet relations could still be improved a lot, and that he could help improve them with his experience. Thirdly, he maintained that by working as long as he could, he would remain healthy and alive as long as possible (see, for example, Pekka Hyvärinen, "Finland's Man"; Juhani Suomi, "A Ski Trail Being Snowed In"). Kekkonen's most severe critics, such as Veikko Vennamo, claimed that he remained President so long mainly because he and his closest associates were so powerhungry (see, for example, Veikko Vennamo, "As a Prisoner of the Kekkonen Dictatorship" / Kekkos-diktatuurin vankina, published in Finland in 1989).
In 1979 Urho Kekkonen was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
Later life
From December 1980, Kekkonen began to suffer from an undisclosed disease that seemed to affect his brain functions, sometimes leading to delusional thoughts. In fact, he had begun to suffer from occasional brief memory lapses in the autumn of 1972. These memory lapses became more frequent in the late 1970s. Around the same time, Kekkonen's eyesight deteriorated, so during his last few years in office, he had to have all official papers typed in block letters. Kekkonen also suffered from a declining sense of balance in his legs since the mid-1970s, from enlargement of his prostate gland since 1974, from occasionally violent headaches, and from diabetes since the autumn of 1979 (see Pekka Hyvärinen, "Finland's Man"; Juhani Suomi, "A Ski Trail Being Snowed In"). According to one of his biographers, Juhani Suomi, Kekkonen did not give any thought about resigning until his physical condition began to decline in July 1981. The 80-year-old President then began to seriously consider resigning, most likely in early 1982. Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto had defeated Kekkonen in 1981. In April, Koivisto had done what none other had dared during Kekkonen's presidency, namely stated that under the Constitution, the Prime Minister and cabinet are responsible to the Parliament and not to the President, and refused to resign at Kekkonen's request. Historians and journalists debate the precise meaning of this dispute. According to Seppo Zetterberg, Allan Tiitta and Pekka Hyvärinen, for example, Kekkonen wanted to force Koivisto to resign to decrease his chances of succeeding him as President. According to Juhani Suomi, by contrast, the dispute was about the scheming between prospective presidential candidates, such as Koivisto. Kekkonen at times criticized Koivisto for making political decisions too slowly and for pondering too much, especially for speaking too unclearly and philosophically (see Zetterberg and Tiitta et al., eds., "Finland Through the Ages" / Suomi kautta aikojen, Helsinki: Valitut Palat/Reader's Digest, 1992; Hyvärinen, "Finland's Man"; Suomi, "A Ski Trail Being Snowed In"). This was generally seen as the death knell of the Kekkonen era. Kekkonen took ill in August during a fishing trip to Iceland. He went on medical leave on 10 September, before finally resigning due to ill health on 26 October 1981, aged 81 (see, for example, Hyvärinen, "Finland's Man"; Suomi, "A Ski Trail Being Snowed In"; Mauno Koivisto, "Two Terms I: Memories and Notes 1982-1994" / Kaksi kautta I. Muistikuvia ja merkintöjä 1982-1994, Helsinki: Kirjayhtymä Publishing Ltd., 1994). There is no report available about his illness, as the papers have been moved to an unknown location, but it is commonly said that he suffered from vascular dementia probably due to atherosclerosis.
Kekkonen died at Tamminiemi in 1986, three days short of his 86th birthday, and was buried with full honors. His heirs restricted access to his diaries. An "authorized" biography was commissioned from Juhani Suomi, who subsequently defended the interpretation of history therein and denigrated most other interpretations.
Appraisal
Some of Kekkonen's actions are controversial in modern Finland. He often pulled a "Moscow card" when his authority was threatened. Still he was hardly the only Finnish politician with close relations to Soviet representatives. The mildly authoritarian behavior of Kekkonen during his presidential term is one of the main reasons for the reforms of the Finnish Constitution in 1984–2003. In these reforms, the power of Parliament and Prime Minister was increased at the expense of the President. Several of these changes have been initiated by Kekkonen's successors.
- The terms of a President were limited to two consecutive terms.
- The President's role in cabinet building was restricted
- The President is elected directly, not by an electoral college
- The President may no longer dissolve the Parliament without the support of the Prime Minister
- The Prime Minister's role in shaping Finland's foreign policy was enhanced
Kekkonen was largely responsible for Finlandization, the policy that allowed the Soviet Union to exert power over Finland. The policy spanned his whole presidency and human rights violations associated with Finlandization were carried out under orders from Kekkonen.[citation needed] He for example insisted that all Soviet defectors, who managed to escape across the border to Finland, should be forcibly returned to the Soviet Union.[5]
Tributes
- The Urho Kekkonen National Park, Finland's second largest national park, is named after Kekkonen.
- The Urho Kekkonen museum was opened in Tamminiemi in 1987.
- Such was his impact on the Finnish political scene that Kekkonen's face was on the 500 Markka banknote during his term as President. The series of Finnish Markka banknotes used at this time was the second-to-last design series in the entire history of the currency. Very few Finns have ever got their face on a Markka note while still alive, and Kekkonen was the last one to do so.
In popular culture
- The vote count from the 1968 elections was broadcast on the radio, and has been shown numerous times in television documentaries. The monotonous reading out of the votes, in groups of five, is still well-recognized in Finnish popular culture, and broadly quoted and paraphrased; "Kekkonen, Kekkonen, Kekkonen, Kekkonen, Kekkonen."
- Matti Hagelberg uses a caricature of Kekkonen as the main character in his comic album with the same name.
Trivia
- Kekkonen is a distant relative of Canadian actress Pamela Anderson through her paternal grandfather, who left Finland in 1908.
References
- ^ "Ministerikortisto". Valtioneuvosto. http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/hakemisto/ministerikortisto/ministeritiedot.asp?nro=154.
- ^ http://personal.inet.fi/koti/tommy.koukka/riesenbu.htm
- ^ "Edustajamatrikkeli". Eduskunta. http://www.eduskunta.fi/triphome/bin/hx5000.sh?{hnro}=910708&{kieli}=su&{haku}=kaikki.
- ^ Hägglund, Gustaf (2006). Leijona ja kyyhky. Helsingissä: Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21161-7
- ^ "President Kekkonen insisted on sending back Soviet defectors". Helsingin Sanomat, International Edition. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/President+Kekkonen+insisted+on+sending+back+Soviet+defectors/1101980957580. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Urho Kekkonen |
- Urho Kekkonen Museum, Tamminiemi, Helsinki
- The Archives of President Urho Kekkonen
- Urho Kekkonen National Park
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Karl-August Fagerholm |
Speaker of the Parliament of Finland 1948-1950 |
Succeeded by Karl-August Fagerholm |
| Preceded by Karl-August Fagerholm |
Prime Minister of Finland 1950–1953 |
Succeeded by Sakari Tuomioja |
| Preceded by Ralf Törngren |
Prime Minister of Finland 1954–1956 |
Succeeded by Karl-August Fagerholm |
| Preceded by Juho Kusti Paasikivi |
President of Finland 1956–1982 |
Succeeded by Mauno Koivisto |
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 | Mauno Henrik Koivisto (Finnish politician) |
| Juho Kusti Paasikivi (Finnish president) |
| Finland (Russian history) |
 | Prime Minister Urho Kekkonen? |
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 | Political Biography. A Dictionary of Political Biography. Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Mauno Henrik Koivisto (Finnish politician)
- Juho Kusti Paasikivi (Finnish president)
- Finland (Russian history)
- Kekkonen (disambiguation)
