Private Life and Legacy
Krag is widely recognised as one of the greatest politicians of all time in Denmark. He was in the front line of politics for 25 years, holding high ministerial offices for most of that time. He managed to raise Denmark's profile on the world stage, striking up strong relationships with fellow European leaders as well as American presidents Kennedy and Johnson. His list of political achievements is also one of the most impressive, overseeing one of the longest periods of economic expansion in Danish history. However, his largest achievement, and the one he himself was most proud of, was taking Denmark into the European Economic Community in 1972. With that task accomplished he felt he could retire at a high point.
Krag was at one and the same time one of the most charismatic and withdrawn Danish politicians ever. He never enjoyed the attention to which he had to subject himself, and many people found him rather arrogant. According to his most thorough (and quite sympathetic) biographer (Bo Lidegaard, Krag I-II, 2001/2002) he never truly settled into the role as a politician, always considering himself on the way 'to somewhere else'. Apparently the post he always dreamed of holding was that of governor of the central bank. Only when he had definitively quit politics in 1972 did he start realising that he would miss it. He didn't manage to fill that space during his remaining years.
His private life was very colourful, but ultimately rather sad. In addition to fathering a child outside wedlock, he was married twice. Krag had a son (Jens Christian born 1960) and a daughter, Astrid Helene (born 1962), by his second wife, the famous actress Helle Virkner. Both marriages ended in divorce, largely due to his own persistent infidelity. During his time in politics he already struggled with alcoholism, an addiction that became more pronounced after his retirement. He died of heart failure in Skiveren, Denmark at the age of 63.
In the Danish TV series Krøniken (2004–2006) he was portrayed by the actor Lars Mikkelsen.
Read more about this topic: Jens Otto Krag
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