Harold Edward Holt, CH ( 5 August 190817 December 1967 ) was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.

Holt spent 32 years in Parliament, including many years as a senior Cabinet Minister, but was Prime Minister for only 22 months.

As Minister for Immigration ( 1949 – 1956 ), Holt was responsible for the relaxation of the White Australia policy and as Treasurer under Menzies he initiated major fiscal reforms including the establishment of the Reserve Bank of Australia and launched and guided the process to convert Australia to decimal currency.

Harold Holt was the elder of Thomas and Olive ( Williams ) Holt's two children.

Tom Frame's biography reveals that Holt was the twins ' biological father.

Holt was drawn to politics in the early 1930s and joined the Prahran branch of the United Australia Party ( UAP ) in 1933.

In October 1940 Holt was elevated to Cabinet, becoming Minister for Labour and National Service, and one of his most significant achievements in this portfolio was the introduction of the Child Endowment Act, passed in April 1941.

Holt was among those who withdrew their support, although he never revealed his reasons for doing so.

Holt was one of the first members to join the Liberal Party's Prahran branch.

The seat was created as a safe Liberal seat, and Holt won it easily.

In December 1958, following the retirement of Arthur Fadden, Holt was appointed Treasurer.

Holt was roundly criticised, his public profile was damaged, and he later described 1960 – 61 as " my most difficult year in public life ".

With Menzies ' support, Holt was elected leader of the Liberal Party, thus becoming Prime Minister.

Holt was sworn in as Prime Minister on Australia Day, 26 January 1966.

The transfer of power from Menzies to Holt in February 1966 was smooth and unproblematic, and at the federal election later that year the electorate overwhelmingly endorsed Holt, giving the Holt-McEwen Coalition government a 41-seat majority, the largest in Australian history at the time.

Although all the preparatory work for the decimal changeover had been done while Menzies was Prime Minister, Holt had particular responsibility as Treasurer for currency matters, and he was centrally involved in both the decision to change and its implementation.

In 1967 the Holt government made the historic decision not to depreciate the Australian dollar in line with Britain's depreciation of the pound sterling, a custom that Australia had previously always followed, but this decision created considerable dissent within the Coalition ; Country Party leader John McEwen was particularly angered by the move — he saw it as a threat to Australia's balance of payments and feared that it would lead to increased production costs for primary industry.

Whilst Holt stated that his friendship with Johnson was reflected in the strong relationship between Australia and the US, former Australian diplomat and foreign affairs expert Alan Renouf was more cynical in his assessment of the situation.

In the chapter on Vietnam in The Frightened Country, his 1979 book on Australian foreign policy, Renouf bluntly suggested that Holt was in effect " seduced " by Johnson, and notes that the Johnson administration criticized the Holt government for not doing enough and repeatedly pressured Australia to increase its troop commitment in Vietnam.

Holt responded rashly, questioning the impartiality of the ABC and implying political bias on the part of journalist Mike Willesee ( whose father Don Willesee was an ALP Senator and future Whitlam government minister ) and his statement drew strong protests from both Willesee and the Australian Journalists ' Association.

Holt decided to go swimming, although the surf was heavy and Cheviot Beach was notorious for its strong currents and dangerous rip tides.

In September 1967 Holt had suffered a recurrence of an old shoulder injury, which reportedly caused him agonising pain, and for this he was prescribed strong painkillers.

The Holt Planetarium has a strong interactive approach to astronomy education.

The Buchanan administration was shaken in December 1860 and January 1861, when the Confederacy was formed and many cabinet members resigned, but Holt was anti-slavery and a strong supporter of the Union.

* Bump ( voiced by Bob Holt ) – Bump is a strong Biskitt.

A strong supporter of international trade, Holt is a board member of Free Trade Alliance-San Antonio, as well as the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and Chase Bank-San Antonio.

John Caldwell Holt ( April 14, 1923, New York City-September 14, 1985 ) was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.

* 1919 – Tim Holt, American actor ( d. 1973 )

A curriculum-free philosophy of homeschooling may be called unschooling, a term coined in 1977 by American educator and author John Holt in his magazine Growing Without Schooling.

Holt visited Washington in mid-1966 and Johnson visited Australia in October that year, the first time a serving American president had visited Australia.

* Holt, Michael F. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War.

* 1969 – Brian Van Holt, American actor

* 1959 – Lester Holt, American television journalist

4, The Methodists, 1783 – 1840: A Collection of Source Materials, New York: H. Holt & Co., – 800 p. of documents regarding the American frontier

Holt was catapulted into the American national consciousness to the extent that he made appearances on major TV talk shows, wrote book reviews for Life magazine, and was a guest on the To Tell The Truth TV game show.

Askin had joined Prime Minister Harold Holt, President Johnson and the American Ambassador, Ed Clark, in a drive through the Sydney CBD.

* 1997 – Jennifer Holt, American actress ( b. 1920 )

* 1964 – Holt McCallany, American actor

On July 2, 1915, prior to the United States ' entry into World War I, Eric Muenter ( aka Frank Holt ), a German professor who wanted to stop American support of the Allies in World War I, exploded a bomb in the reception room of the U. S. Senate.

** Olivia Holt, American Actress

** Jack Holt, American actor ( b. 1888 )

** Lester Holt, American television journalist

* May 31 – Jack Holt, American actor ( d. 1951 )

** Tim Holt, American actor ( b. 1919 )

* March 4 – Luther Emmett Holt, American pediatrician ( d. 1924 )

* Holt, Michael F. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War ( 1999 )

In 1930 Kommunar started to produce the first Soviet harvester Kommunar which was based on the American Holt Caterpillar horse-drawn harvester.

* Terrence Holt a free agent of American football for the National Football League at the position of Safety, formerly played for NC State and Detroit Lions.

* Torry Holt, a former American football All-Pro for the National Football League at the position of wide receiver formerly for NC State and the St. Louis Rams was born in nearby Gibsonville and attended Eastern Guilford High School.

A suite of Roosevelt's attendants, led by Holt Collier, cornered, clubbed, and tied an American Black Bear to a willow tree after a long exhausting chase with hounds.

* Allgor, Catherine, A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation, New York: Henry Holt, 2005.