Harold Holt (5 August 1908-17 December 1967) was Prime Minister of Australia from 26 January 1966 to 19 December 1967, succeeding Robert Menzies and preceding John McEwen. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, and he mysteriously disappeared while spearfishing in 1967, likely drowning.
Biography[]
Harold Holt was born in Sydney, Australia in 1908, and he grew up in Melbourne. He opened his own legal practice before being elected to Parliament in 1935 as a United Australia Party MP, and he became a protege of Prime Minister Robert Menzies. At the age of 32, he was appointed Minister of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1940, serving until 1941, when the government was defeated. He briefly served in the Australian Army during World War II, meeting and befriending US Navy officer Lyndon B. Johnson during his deployment to Australia. He joined the new Liberal Party of Australia upon its creation in 1945, and he served as Immigration Minister from 1949 to 1956, relaxing the "White Australia" policy. He also served as Minister of Labor and National Service from 1949 to 1958, handling industrial relations disputes. From 1958 to 1966, he served as Treasurer of Australia, creating the Reserve Bank of Australia and the decimal Australian dollar. In January 1966, he was appointed to succeed Menzies as Prime Minister, and he went on to win a landslide electoral victory. He continued to dismantle the "White Australia" policy, gave the federal government responsibility for indigenous affairs, promoted greater engagement with Asia and the Pacific, and expanded Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, proclaiming that he was "All the Way with LBJ" as a show of support for US president Lyndon B. Johnson, his old friend; his remark was poorly received at home. In 1967, while swimming off Cheviot Cove, Victoria to spear-fish, he was sucked away by a riptide and disappeared, presumably drowning.