Hilmar Baunsgaard

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Hilmar Baunsgaard
Baunsgaard (left) and Richard Nixon, 1970
Prime Minister of Denmark
In office February 2, 1968 – October 11, 1971
Preceded by	Jens Otto Krag
Succeeded by	Jens Otto Krag

Born	February 26, 1920
Died	July 2, 1989
Political party	Det Radikale Venstre

Hilmar Baunsgaard (IPA: ['hilmɑɐ 'baʊ̥nsg̊ʌɐ̥]) (1920 – 1989) was a Danish politician. He was a member of Det Radikale Venstre, a liberal party. He was the Prime Minister of Denmark from February 15, 1968, when his party gained power, ending 15 years of government by the Social Democrats, until October 9, 1971, when the Social Democrats regained power. He was preceded and succeeded by the Social Democratic leader of that time, Jens Otto Krag.

His government coalition with the Conservative Party and the Liberal Venstre held a clear majority of seats in the parliament. In spite of this, they utterly failed to tackle the growing problems of the welfare state and rein in public spending. As a result, taxation sky-rocketed. In the social sphere the government was one of the most radical so far seen in Denmark, abolishing censorship of pornography and legalising abortion. However, in doing so they alienated sufficient numbers of core supporters to lose the 1971 election.