Harold Edward Holt was born on August 5, 1908, in Stanmore, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, married, and had 3 children. He was first elected to his country's Parliament in 1935, and served in several posts in the Prime Minister's Cabinet: Minister in Charge of Scientific and Industrial Research, Minister for Labour and National Service, Minister for Immigration, Labour and National Service again, and Treasurer.
He was named Deputy Leader of the country's Liberal Party -- which is actually the more conservative of its 2 major parties, the more liberal one being the Labour Party -- in 1956. On January 20, 1966, upon the resignation of the longest-serving Prime Minister in Australian history, Robert Menzies, he was elected Leader by the Liberal Party. Six days later, on January 26, he was confirmed by Parliament as the 17th Prime Minister of Australia -- and the 1st one born in the 20th Century. On November 26, this was further confirmed with a landslide victory in a national general election.
The Holt Government continued the dismantling of "the White Australia policy," and amended the Constitution to give the federal government responsibility for indigenous affairs. Recognizing that the United States, not the "mother country" of Great Britain, was now his country's largest trading partner, he moved Australia off the British pound, and established the Australian dollar. (It took effect on February 14, 1966. By 2016, it was the 5th-most-traded currency in the world.)
He promoted greater engagement with Asia and the Pacific, and made visits to a number of East Asian countries. A less popular move was his expansion of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War: While this pleased American President Lyndon B. Johnson, it angered many in his own country, thinking it made him, and thus Australia, look subservient to Johnson and America.
Holt and LBJ
According to his biographer Tom Frame, "Holt's inclinations and sympathies were those of the political centre... He was a pragmatist rather than a philosopher, but he nonetheless claimed a philosophical lineage connecting him with Alfred Deakin (the country's 2nd Prime Minister), and approvingly quoted his statement that, 'We are liberal always, radical often, and reactionary never.'"
After Holt's death, Edward Gough Whitlam, then the Leader of the Labour Party, and later to serve as Prime Minister himself, said, "Holt's ability to establish relationships with men of different backgrounds, attitudes and interests was his essential decency. He was tolerant, humane and broadminded. His suavity of manner was no pose. It was the outward reflection of a truly civilized human being. He was, in a very real sense, a gentleman."
Holt was an avid swimmer and spearfisher, and had 2 beach houses that he used for vacations -- or, as would be said in British Commonwealth nations such as Australia, "on holiday." One was at Portsea, in the State of Victoria. On December 17, 1967, Holt was spending the weekend there.
He and 4 companions decided to drive to Point Nepean to watch sailor Alec Rose pass through "The Rip" on his solo circumnavigation attempt. The Rip, also known as "The Heads," is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Straight to the bay of Port Philip, and is the only route of maritime transport into Port Phillip, and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two largest cities.
On their way back to Portsea, Holt convinced the group to stop at remote Cheviot Beach for a swim before lunch. Having spearfished there on many previous occasions, he claimed to "know this beach like the back of my hand." Because of the rough conditions, only one other person, Alan Stewart, joined Holt in the water. Stewart kept close to shore, but Holt swam out into deeper water, and was seemingly caught up in a riptide, eventually disappearing from view. One of the witnesses, Marjorie Gillespie, described it as "like a leaf being taken out... so quick and final."
Holt's disappearance sparked "one of the largest search operations in Australian history," but no trace of his body has ever been found. At 10:00 PM on December 18, Richard Casey, a.k.a. Lord Casey, the Governor-General, and thus the British monarch's representative in the country, and thus the acting head of state, announced that he had terminated Holt's commission as prime minister upon his presumed death. He was 59 years old.
A police report released in early 1968 made no definitive findings about Holt's death, while a coronial inquest in 2005 returned a verdict of accidental drowning. It is generally accepted that Holt overestimated his swimming ability.
Some have alleged that Holt committed suicide, but those close to him rejected this as uncharacteristic of his personality. Conspiracy theories have included suggestions that Holt faked his own death, was assassinated by the CIA, or was collected by a submarine so that he could defect to China.
This last theory was suggested by British journalist Anthony Grey, in his 1983 book The Prime Minister Was a Spy. Grey was a prisoner of the Communist Chinese at the time of Holt's disappearance, and certainly harbored a grudge against them.
The theory is almost certainly a lie. Biographer Frame describes it as a "complete fabrication," and noted that there was "no corroborative evidence." Holt was stridently anti-Communist. The large sums of money he supposedly received were never reflected in his lifestyle. The waters off Cheviot Beach were much too shallow for a submarine to submerge. He was considered highly unlikely to have deserted his wife Zara and their children. And Zara said that he "didn't even like Chinese food."
On December 19, John McEwen, the Leader of the Country Party, was sworn in as caretaker Prime Minister. On January 9, 1968, the Liberal party held a leadership election, and John Gorton, Leader of the Government in the Senate, won it. He was sworn in on January 10.
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December 17, 1967 was a
Sunday. It was the last week of the regular season for the NFL:
* The New York Giants beat the NFL version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 37-14 at Yankee Stadium.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns, 28-24 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Washington Redskins, 30-14 at District of Columbia Stadium (later renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-14 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
* The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings, 14-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Green Bay Packers, 24-17 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Packers went on to win the NFL Championship, anyway, beating Dallas in the "Ice Bowl" on New Year's Eve, and then beat the AFL Champion Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Baltimore Colts, 34-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was the only game the Colts lost all season, but, combined with 2 ties, it was enough to keep them out of the Playoffs.
* And the day before, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 24-16 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
It was also the last
week of the regular season for the AFL:
* The New York Jets lost to the Oakland Raiders, 38-29 at the Oakland Coliseum. In spite of the loss, the Jets' Joe Namath became the 1st quarterback in American professional football to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Boston Patriots, 41-32 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 38-24 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* The day before, the Houston Oilers beat the San Diego Chargers, 24-17 at Rice Stadium in Houston.
* And the Buffalo Bills were not scheduled.
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