Georgios (George) Andreas Papandreou was born into what is often referred to as a Greek “dynasty” of economists and politicians.
But his leadership appeared to be on its last legs Nov. 3 when reports began to circulate he would step down as the country’s debt crisis reached a fever pitch and he was forced to call of a referendum on austerity measures required for a Eurozone bailout.
The 60-year-old took the office of Prime Minister October 6, 2009, as leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), the party his father, Andreas, brought to power in 1981 after 50 years of Conservative rule.
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His grandfather, Georgios, also held the office for three short terms between 1944 and 1964.
Born in the United States, Papandreou went to schools in Illinois, Toronto and Stockholm before going on to receive degrees from the Amherst College, the London School of Economics, Harvard.
He joined Pasok upon returning to Greece in 1974 and won his first term in parliament the same year his father took power.
After holding several ministerial posts, he was named foreign minister in 1999 and was credited with helping build better relationships with neighbouring adversaries Turkey, Albania and Bulgaria, as well as attempting to dissolve the Greek-Turkish division of Cyprus and help it enter into the European Union. In the end only Greek Cyprus gained membership.
He also led the bid for Athens to host the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
His election promise to introduce a $3-billion stimulus package, to jump start the already troubled Greek economy, was never realized.
Instead, Papendreou announced austerity measures, tax increases and public sector cuts, inciting repeated nationwide strikes.
His approval rating plummeted and he narrowly survived a confidence vote in June of this year. In may 77 per cent of the public said they had no faith in his leadership.
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