Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Anders Fogh Rasmussen S.K.
Rasmussen in 2013
12th Secretary General of NATO
In office 1 August 2009 – 1 October 2014
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Jens Stoltenberg
24th Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 27 November 2001 – 5 April 2009
Monarch	Margrethe II
Deputy	Bendt Bendtsen Lene Espersen
Preceded by	Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Leader of Venstre
In office 18 March 1998 – 17 May 2009
Preceded by	Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office 18 December 1990 – 19 November 1992
Prime Minister	Poul Schlüter
Preceded by	Niels Helveg Petersen
Succeeded by	Thor Pedersen
Minister of Taxation
In office 10 September 1987 – 19 November 1992
Prime Minister	Poul Schlüter
Preceded by	Isi Foighel
Succeeded by	Peter Brixtofte
Member of the Folketing
In office 1 July 1978 – 20 April 2009
Constituency	Zealand Greater
Personal details
Born	(1953-01-26) 26 January 1953 (age 71) Ginnerup, Denmark
Political party	Venstre
Spouse	Anne-Mette Rasmussen ​ ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Knud Rasmussen Martha Rasmussen
Alma mater	Aarhus University

Anders Fogh Rasmussen S.K. (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɑnɐs ˈfɔwˀ ˈʁɑsmusn̩] ^ⓘ; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014.^[1][2] He became founder of political consultancy Rasmussen Global^[3] and founded the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. He serves as a senior adviser to Citigroup.^[4] He also served as a senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group.^[5]

Rasmussen was first elected to the Folketing in 1978 and served in various ministerial positions, including Minister of Tax (1987–1992) and Minister of Economic Affairs (1990–1992). In his early career, Rasmussen was a strident critic of the welfare state,^[6] writing the classical liberal book From Social State to Minimal State in 1993. However, his views moved towards the political centre through the 1990s.^[7] He was elected the leader of the conservative-liberal party Venstre in 1998 and headed a centre-right coalition with the Conservative People's Party which took office in November 2001 and won its second and third terms in February 2005 and in November 2007. Rasmussen's government relied on the Danish People's Party for support, keeping with the Danish tradition of minority government.

His government introduced tougher limits on immigration and a freeze on tax rates (skattestoppet in Danish). Certain taxes were lowered, but his coalition partners in the Conservative People's Party repeatedly argued for more tax cuts and a flat tax rate at no higher than 50%. Rasmussen's government implemented an administrative reform reducing the number of municipalities (kommuner) and replacing the thirteen counties (amter) with five regions which he referred to as "the biggest reform in thirty years". He authored several books about taxation and government structure.

He resigned as prime minister in April 2009 to become Secretary General of NATO, a military alliance that was expanding into Eastern Europe. He aggressively pushed NATO in new directions that extended far beyond the traditional roles of containment of the Soviet Union and directing the Cold War in Europe.^[8] His term ended on 30 September 2014. He was the first former prime minister since Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium in 1961 to become Secretary General of NATO.

He became a private consultant on the international stage. He is a Senior Network Member at the European Leadership Network (ELN).^[9]