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The Tale of a Prime Minister: George A. Papandreou

It’s only been two years since George Papandreou after an overwhelming victory moved to the Maximos Mansion and became the third Papandreou to rule Greece, but it feels like ten years have passed since his election.
After his grandfather, George Papandreou, the “pragmatic centrist” who helped Greece out of the Nazi occupation and after his father, Andreas Papandreou who by some is still considered as the charismatic modernizer who changed Greece forever, but for most is the one that actually caused Greece’s current tragedy, Papandreou the 3rd  was elected in 2009 and spent two years in office trying to keep Greece from bankruptcy. But as it turns out he didn’t do a very good job.
On April 23, 2010 Mr. Papandreou declared his country’s economy “a sinking ship’’  requested the lower-interest loans promised by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, but a year and a half after the bailout, Greece is sinking in chaos.
Two years ago Greek media described George as decent and humane. Today he’s described as irrational, dangerous, contradictive he’s even  called a traitor. Contradictive is an understatement some would argue.From having a vision of Greece being less Balkan and more European-a couple of years ago he said he wanted to turn Greece into the Mediterranean Sweden- he ended up being the one who almost took Greece out of the Euro!
Papandreou’s referendum gamble backfired, and besides creating more turmoil for the euro zone it divided his own party and killed his political career. On the 27th of October George Papandreou was humiliated both internationally and domestically. Having Angela Merkel forming the actual referendum question and setting the date without even asking the Greek PM outraged Greeks. The date also had a symbolic element for Greeks: October 28th, the day when Greece proudly said NO to occupying Axis forces in 1940 and October 27th, the day, when Greece surrendered to Germany, with 71 years delay.
Despite performing a U-turn on his referendum pledge due to pressure both within the EU and his Socialist Pasok party, the damage was simply too severe. Analysts claim that his suicidal tactic  was a typically idealistic move by a politician who has good intentions but not real political savy, at least in the jungle world of Greek politics.Whether Papandreou is a traitor or a politician with good intentions unable to cope with Greece’s Balkan instincts,  the truth of the matter is that should Greece ever leaves the Euro, he’s always going to be the one that actually started this catastrophe.
“Little George” 
From the beginning of his governance Greek media always questioned whether he was actually enough for the job. Despite coming from a dynasty of political insiders his quiet, western-style political personality made him seem as an outsider. Greeks had always elected macho figures (similar to his father Andreas) as prime ministers who wrapped themselves in the blue and white flag of the fatherland but Papandreou Jr. lacked that macho element, in fact his opponents dismissed him as Yiorgaki, or “little George.”
Trim and fit with an i-pad always in hand, the Minesota-born Prime Minister lived much of his youth in exile with his father in the States, Canada and Sweden. He speaks English with a quiet, Midwestern cadence and perfect American idioms but when it comes to Greek he’s not that much of a rhetor.In fact, his opponents and the Greek press often mock him for his grammatical errors.
Papandreou attended schools and universities in the U.S, Sweden and Canada and received degrees from Amherst College, the London School of Economics and Harvard University. He returned to Greece after the restoration of democracy in 1974 and became involved with his father’s party.Rising through the ranks of Pasok, he was elected to parliament in 1981, the same year his father was elected prime minister.After a number of ministerial posts, George Papandreou was appointed foreign minister in 1999. He was also the minister responsible for the successful bid for 2004 Olympic Games.

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