Olof Palme

Who was Olof Palme?

Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, statesman and prime minister. A longtime protégé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party SAP from 1969 until his assassination in 1986, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet government from 1982 until his death. Electoral defeats in 1976 and 1979 marked the end of Social Democratic hegemony in Swedish politics, which had seen 40 years of unbroken rule by the party. While leader of opposition, he parted domestic and international interests and served as special mediator of the United Nations in the Iran–Iraq War, but returned to power as Prime Minister after electoral victories in 1982 and 1985.