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'Mauno Henrik Koivisto' [IPA: mɑuno henrik koiʋisto] (born November 25, 1923) was the President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as Prime Minister 1968–1970 and 1979–1982. He was the first Social Democrat to be elected as President.

Contents

Early life

Banker and politician

Presidency

Trivia

Bibliography

References

Early life

Mauno Koivisto was born in Turku, Finland, the second son of Juho Koivisto, a shipwright, and Hymni Sofia Eskola, who died when he was 10. After attending primary school, Koivisto had a number of jobs, and at the beginning of the Winter War in 1939, when he was 16, he joined a field firefighting unit. During the Continuation War, Koivisto served in the Infantry Detachment Törni, led by the famous Lauri Törni, which was a long-range reconnaissance detachment operating behind the enemy lines and open to selected volunteers only. During the war he received the Order of the Cross of Liberty (2nd class) and was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He later referred to his experiences during the war by stating ''"When you have taken part in a game in which your own life is at stake, all other games are small after that experience".''
After the war, he earned a living as a carpenter and became active in politics, joining the Social Democratic party. In autumn 1948, he obtained a job at Turku harbour, and in December of the same year, he was appointed manager of the Harbour Labour Office of Turku, a post he held until 1951. In 1949, trade unions controlled by the communists attempted to topple Karl-August Fagerholm's Social Democrat minority government, and the Social Democratic leadership of the Finnish Confederation of Trade Unions (SAK) declared the port of Hanko an "open site", urging port workers who supported legality to go to Hanko. Koivisto moved there to take charge of the harbour-master's office and recruit workers, the government having banned strike action. The communists newspapers branded him as Finland's Enemy No.1 as Koivisto was a key figure in the struggle for control of the trade unions.

Banker and politician

In addition to his political activities and his working for a living, Koivisto returned to education, passing his intermediate examination in 1947 and his university entrance examination in 1949. In 1951 he became a primary school teacher and the following year he married Tellervo Kankaanranta (born 1929) (they have a daughter, Assi, born 1957). During this period, Koivisto also finished his studies, graduating from the University of Turku with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a License in 1953, intending to become a sociologist. Three years later he completed his doctoral thesis about social relations in the Turku dockyards. Koivisto also served as a Vocational Counsellor of the City of Turku, and as a member of Turku City Council.
In 1957, he became a banker with the Helsinki Workers' Savings Bank, serving as General Manager from 1959 to 1968. In 1968 he was appointed as Chairman of the board of the Bank of Finland, a position he retained until 1982. During the 1960s, he had to witness intra-party schisms in the Social Democratic party. He tried to improve the party's connections to communists and to President Urho Kekkonen.
The 1966 election victory of the Social Democrats saw the formation of a new government by Rafael Paasio, with Koivisto, the party's expert on economic policy, appointed as Minister of Finance. By the beginning of 1968, however, many people in the Social Democratic Party were unsatisfied with Paasio's leadership style, and Koivisto eventually emerged as the party's candidate to succeed Paasio as Prime Minister, which he did on March 22, 1968. He served as Prime Minister until the Parliamentary election of 1970, which saw the other parties in his coalition government suffer heavy losses, and led to his resignation.
In the 1970s, President Kekkonen seemed to regard Koivisto as his potential rival and supported his Social Democratic colleague, Kalevi Sorsa, instead. Koivisto remained as the Chairman of the Bank of Finland and, following the 1979 Parliamentary election, he was re-elected as Prime Minister. By 1979, there was increasing dissatisfaction with the ageing President Kekkonen, whose failing health was becoming impossible to conceal, and the lack of change. In this situation, Koivisto, as both Prime Minister and Chairman of the Bank of Finland, and with high ratings in opinion polls, was expected to be a future candidate for President.
In the first months of 1981, President Kekkonen began to regret Koivisto's appointment as Prime Minister and to lean towards the side of those who wanted to get rid of him. In spring 1981, members of the Centre Party, whose party was included in the government coalition, launched an attempt behind the scenes to bring down the cabinet with a parliamentary vote of no confidence, so that Koivisto would not be able to conduct a Presidential election campaign from the position of Prime Minister. At the critical moment, however, Koivisto received support from the Finnish People's Democratic League, and Kekkonen no longer had the energy to topple the government when Koivisto called the bluff by refusing to tender his resignation. late in the year, as Kekkonen became too ill to carry out his duties, Koivisto became acting President and was able to launch his Presidential election campaign from that position.
During the campaign, Koivisto was questioned on two issues in particular: the nature of his Socialism and on relations with the Soviet Union. For the nature of his socialism, he referred to Eduard Bernstein, an anti-Marxist, pro-capitalism Social Democrat, popularizing the motto: "The important thing is the movement, not the goal." To a journalist's question — intended to be a difficult one — on the issue of relations with Moscow, Koivisto replied that they were nothing to boast about, and this answer merely increased his popularity. Koivisto did not wish to be elected with the support of Moscow. His polling percentage rose to 87% and his wife and daughter were the most popular electors in the electoral college. Koivisto won 167 of the 301 votes in the electoral college in the second round against 58 for his nearest rival, the National Coalition Party candidate Harri Holkeri. Koivisto became the first Social Democrat to be elected as President.

Presidency

As president, he kept a low profile and used less authoritarian leadership tactics than Kekkonen had, refraining from using some of his presidential powers and initiating a new era of parliamentarianism in Finland. On the other hand, he had a sometimes difficult relationship with journalists, whom he famously called "lemmings". As the leader of Finland's foreign policies he initially continued Kekkonen's line until the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the critical moments when the Soviet Union was collapsing, and the Baltic countries, particularly Estonia, were declaring themselves independent, Koivisto referred to the policy of neutrality and denied support. Koivisto's Finland recognized the new Estonian government only after major powers had done so.
Koivisto declared that anyone with an Ingrian ancestry could immigrate to Finland as a returnee.
In the 1988 Presidential election, he was re-elected with 189 votes in the electoral college in the second round. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he supported more radical ideals like joining the European Union. In 1992, Koivisto declared that Finland should join the EU, and the application process was started. The final terms of membership were finalized on the day when Koivisto left office. He was followed by President Martti Ahtisaari, who was also a supporter of EU membership.
Koivisto's term ended in 1994. He has published his memoirs and continued as a commentator on economics and both domestic and international politics.

Trivia

★ Koivisto was known during his political career for his rather convoluted presentation, often using several negatives in his sentences. Nevertheless, he opined that "no one may explain my words, not even myself", and called foreign policy commentators "foreign policy fortune-tellers".

★ He knows Russian.

★ He actively keeps a correspondence with George H.W. Bush and Mihail Gorbachev. When Bush was elected, he immediately called ten heads of state, one of them Koivisto.

★ He plays volleyball in the team known as ''Sikariporras'', the "Cigar Echelon", cf. Champagne unit.

★ During his presidency, he often exercised his power as the Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces by making highly detailed questions about the equipment, such as why Gore-Tex is used in this particular type of gloves, as he was a long-range recon veteran.

Bibliography

★ Sosiaaliset suhteet Turun satamassa ('The Social Relation In The Harbour Of Turku'), 1956

★ Linjan vetoa, 1968

★ Väärää politiikkaa ('The Wrong Politics'), 1978 ISBN 951-26-1511-8

★ Tästä lähtien ('From Now On'), 1981 ISBN 951-26-2285-8

★ Linjaviitat, 1983

★ Politiikkaa ja politikointia ('Politics And Talking Politics'), 1978-81; 1988

★ Maantiede ja historiallinen kokemus: Ulkopoliittisia kannanottoja, 1992 ISBN 951-1-12614-8

★ Kaksi kautta ('The Two [Presidential] Terms'), 1994 ISBN 951-26-3947-5

★ Historian tekijät ('Witness to history'), 1995 ISBN 951-26-4082-1

★ Liikkeen suunta ('The Direction Of Movement'), 1997 ISBN 951-26-4272-7

★ Koulussa ja sodassa ('In School And In The War'), 1998 ISBN 951-26-4384-7

★ Venäjän idea, 2001 ('The Russian Idea') ISBN 951-31-2108-9

★ Itsenäiseksi imperiumin kainalossa ('To independency in the armpit of an Empire'), 2004 ISBN 951-31-3181-5

References