Haakon Lie
Encyclopedia
Haakon Lie was a Norwegian
politician who served as party secretary
for the Norwegian Labour Party
from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he became involved in the labour movement
at an early age, and quickly rose in the party system. After actively working for the resistance movement
and the exiled government during World War II
, he was elected to the second-highest position in the party after the war, and his years in office were the most successful in the party's history.
Lie is widely considered – along with Einar Gerhardsen
– to be the architect of the post-war success of the Labour Party, and of the Norwegian welfare state
. At the same time, he has also been the subject of criticism for organising surveillance of Norwegian oppositionals, in particular communists
. Lie remained active in Norwegian public life, even after his 100th birthday, and in 2008 he celebrated his 103rd birthday with the release of a new biography, "Slik jeg ser det nå" (As I see it now).
origin but unrelated to Trygve Lie
, Lie was the son of a fireman in Oslo
– then called Kristiania. Though he describes his childhood as a happy one, his family was poor and, until 1916, his father had to work 112 hours a week. With his parents, two brothers, and two sisters, he shared one room and a kitchen. Lie got involved with the labour movement at the age of sixteen, in 1921. Here he met some of his lifelong friends and colleagues: Martin Tranmæl
, Oscar Torp
and Einar Gerhardsen
. When the Labour Party
left the Third Communist International
in 1923, and was split between the new-founded Communist Party
and the remaining social democrats
, Lie ended up on the latter wing. The bitter strife between the two factions strongly influenced his life-long anti-communist stance.
In 1927, after giving up university studies and a brief stint as an industrial worker, he became a forester
. He was happy with this occupation, but after a bout of tuberculosis
in 1927, had to give it up as well, and started working as secretary for the party. In 1931 he was made leader of Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund (AOF, Workers' Information Society), an institution recently created to promote education in the working class. Lie has cited the AOF as the proudest achievement of his career.
In the early 1930s he made journeys to both Germany and Russia. His experience with authoritarian states – both fascist
and communist – helped reinforce his political outlook of a democracy/dictatorship dichotomy rather than a simple right/left one. During the Spanish Civil War
in 1936–39, he helped organise aid to those fighting the fascists and, during the winter of 1936–37, he visited the country. At one point the former pacifist Lie also took flying lessons to actively participate in the conflict, but this plan was never carried out.
by Germany
in April 1940, Lie immediately started organising resistance
, taking charge of free radio broadcasts from various locations in the country. For two months this work kept him in constant movement around Norway, and on 7 June 1940, when King Haakon VII
and the government left the country for London
, he was in Vadsø
, replacing a broken transmitter. At this point further broadcasts became impossible, and Lie had to make his way south, through Finland
and Sweden
, to Oslo. Here he became involved in the underground labour movement, mainly through printing newspapers and spreading information.
After the German invasion
of the Soviet Union
in June 1941, the occupying authority in Norway started cracking down harder on opposition. A strike
over milk rations in September led to the arrest and execution of the two labour leaders Viggo Hansteen
and Rolf Wickstrøm
. This was followed by several high-profile arrests – among them Einar Gerhardsen – and Lie had to flee the country. He left his house only hours before the Germans appeared to arrest him. From Sweden he made his way to the United Kingdom
, where he worked as a propaganda secretary for the exiled Norwegian labour movement in London. He made two visits to the United States to gather support and financial aid, the second time as a labour attaché with diplomatic status. While Haakon was in exile, his brother Per
, who was also a labour activist, was arrested in Norway in 1942. He was imprisoned and eventually sent to Dachau, where he died from typhoid fever
in March 1945.
" ("Landsfaderen"), Lie maintained party discipline and staked out the political strategy in the background. From his position at the head of the party he helped orchestrate the predominant position the party was to hold in the following years, with absolute parliamentary majorities won in the 1945
, 1949
, 1953
and 1957
elections. During the reconstruction of the post-war years, he helped lead the party onto a more moderate path. Private versus public ownership of industry now became a practical, rather than an ideological question. The policy proved highly successful; the country experienced unprecedented growth, as well as improved conditions for the working class, during his tenure.
It was also during this period that he set up surveillance of Norwegian communists, a practice later deemed illegal by a government committee, the Lund commission. Lie himself defended his Machiavellian tactics, and once famously stated that the Labour Party was no Sunday school
("Arbeiderpartiet er faen ingen søndagsskole"). There were also external events that aided his cause. The Marshall Plan
accepted in 1947 and the Norwegian membership in NATO from 1949 drew the nation closer to the United States
. Meanwhile, the Soviet invasion
of Czechoslovakia
in 1968 demonstrated the threat represented by the Soviet Union. Yet Lie was stronger in his support of the United States, and more fierce in his anti-communism, than most in his party. In 1961 a splinter part emerged, known as Socialist People's Party
, that was to deny the Labour Party a majority in the 1961 elections
as well as to bring down the third cabinet Gerhardsen
.
Meanwhile the relationship between Lie and Gerhardsen – who was far more amenable to the Soviets – grew cooler. At the national party convention of 1967 Gerhardsen openly attacked Lie, to which Lie reportedly responded by threatening to "break" Gerhardsen "like a louse" ("Jeg skal knekke deg som en lus"). Gerhardsen later regretted the attack, and later sent Lie a letter of apology - to which the latter never replied. Lie resigned as party secretary in 1969, and Gerhardsen retired from active politics the same year.
. He led the losing campaign for Norwegian membership in the EEC in the early 1970s, and in 2000 he led a battle to prevent the privatisation of the national oil company Statoil
. His preferred method of staying updated on current international events was through weekly readings of The Economist
.
Influenced by the support he experienced from Jewish labour leaders in the United States, he was a supporter of the state of Israel
, though he is highly critical of the Israeli government's current treatment of the Palestinians
and to the settlement of the West Bank
.
He wrote several books, among them the controversial memoir ...slik jeg ser det ("...the way I see it", 1975), in which he strongly attacked Gerhardsen. He also wrote a two-volume biography of his mentor Martin Tranmæl, Et bål av vilje and Veiviseren ("A Beacon of Resolve", 1988 and "The Pathfinder", 1991). In his latest book, released in 2008 at 103 years of age, being traditionally a strong proponent of cooperation with the United States, he called for enhanced security cooperation between the Nordic countries
and argued Norway should buy the Swedish JAS Gripen aircraft instead of the US-made Joint Strike Fighter.
In 1970, after retiring as party secretary, he acquired a patch of woodland where he could resume his passion for forestry
. For many years he spent his winters in the US state of Florida
, but eventually moved back permanently to Norway. Lie was married twice – first to a companion from the labour youth movement, then to an American woman. He left three daughters, two by his first wife and one by the second.
Lie died on 25 May 2009, aged 103, after a long illness. He had been hospitalised six months earlier.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
politician who served as party secretary
Party secretary
In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader ....
for the Norwegian Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he became involved in the labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
at an early age, and quickly rose in the party system. After actively working for the resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
and the exiled government during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was elected to the second-highest position in the party after the war, and his years in office were the most successful in the party's history.
Lie is widely considered – along with Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Gerhardsen
was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...
– to be the architect of the post-war success of the Labour Party, and of the Norwegian welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
. At the same time, he has also been the subject of criticism for organising surveillance of Norwegian oppositionals, in particular communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Lie remained active in Norwegian public life, even after his 100th birthday, and in 2008 he celebrated his 103rd birthday with the release of a new biography, "Slik jeg ser det nå" (As I see it now).
Early years
Born into a family of FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
origin but unrelated to Trygve Lie
Trygve Lie
Trygve Halvdan Lie was a Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian Foreign minister during the critical years of the Norwegian government in exile in London from 1940 to 1945. From 1946 to 1952 he was the first Secretary-General of the United...
, Lie was the son of a fireman in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
– then called Kristiania. Though he describes his childhood as a happy one, his family was poor and, until 1916, his father had to work 112 hours a week. With his parents, two brothers, and two sisters, he shared one room and a kitchen. Lie got involved with the labour movement at the age of sixteen, in 1921. Here he met some of his lifelong friends and colleagues: Martin Tranmæl
Martin Tranmæl
Martin Olsen Tranmæl was a radical Norwegian socialist leader.-Biography:Martin Tranmæl grew up in a middle-sized farm in Melhus, in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. He started working as a painter and construction worker. In the early 20th century, Tranmæl lived for a while in the USA where he came...
, Oscar Torp
Oscar Torp
was a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He was party leader from 1923 to 1945, and mayor of Oslo in 1935 and 1936. In 1935 he became acting Minister of Defence in the government of Johan Nygaardsvold. He was also Minister of Social Affairs from 1936 to 1939, and then Minister of...
and Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Gerhardsen
was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...
. When the Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
left the Third Communist International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
in 1923, and was split between the new-founded Communist Party
Communist Party of Norway
The Communist Party of Norway is a political party in Norway without parliamentary representation. It was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. The party played an important role in the resistance to German occupation during the Second World War, and experienced a brief...
and the remaining social democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, Lie ended up on the latter wing. The bitter strife between the two factions strongly influenced his life-long anti-communist stance.
Forester
250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...
. He was happy with this occupation, but after a bout of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1927, had to give it up as well, and started working as secretary for the party. In 1931 he was made leader of Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund (AOF, Workers' Information Society), an institution recently created to promote education in the working class. Lie has cited the AOF as the proudest achievement of his career.
In the early 1930s he made journeys to both Germany and Russia. His experience with authoritarian states – both fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and communist – helped reinforce his political outlook of a democracy/dictatorship dichotomy rather than a simple right/left one. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1936–39, he helped organise aid to those fighting the fascists and, during the winter of 1936–37, he visited the country. At one point the former pacifist Lie also took flying lessons to actively participate in the conflict, but this plan was never carried out.
World War II
When Norway was invadedOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
by Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in April 1940, Lie immediately started organising resistance
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
, taking charge of free radio broadcasts from various locations in the country. For two months this work kept him in constant movement around Norway, and on 7 June 1940, when King Haakon VII
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
and the government left the country for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he was in Vadsø
Vadsø
is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality and the county of Finnmark....
, replacing a broken transmitter. At this point further broadcasts became impossible, and Lie had to make his way south, through Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, to Oslo. Here he became involved in the underground labour movement, mainly through printing newspapers and spreading information.
After the German invasion
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in June 1941, the occupying authority in Norway started cracking down harder on opposition. A strike
Milk strike
The milk strike was a strike in Nazi occupied Oslo on 8 and 9 September 1941. It led to strong reprisals from the German occupiers, in the form of martial law, court-martial, mass arrests, two executions and several long-term jail sentences.-Start:...
over milk rations in September led to the arrest and execution of the two labour leaders Viggo Hansteen
Viggo Hansteen
Harald Viggo Hansteen was a Norwegian lawyer who was executed by the Nazis during the five-year Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. -Biography:...
and Rolf Wickstrøm
Rolf Wickstrøm
Rolf Wickstrøm was a Norwegian labour activist and a victim of the German occupation of Norway during World War II.-Biography:...
. This was followed by several high-profile arrests – among them Einar Gerhardsen – and Lie had to flee the country. He left his house only hours before the Germans appeared to arrest him. From Sweden he made his way to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where he worked as a propaganda secretary for the exiled Norwegian labour movement in London. He made two visits to the United States to gather support and financial aid, the second time as a labour attaché with diplomatic status. While Haakon was in exile, his brother Per
Per Lie
Per Lie was a Norwegian labour activist who was imprisoned and killed during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany....
, who was also a labour activist, was arrested in Norway in 1942. He was imprisoned and eventually sent to Dachau, where he died from typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
in March 1945.
Reconstruction
On 20 June 1945, Lie returned to Norway. At the national convention of the Labour Party that same year, he was elected party secretary. While Gerhardsen became chairman and prime minister, and gradually assumed his role as "Father of the NationPater Patriae
Pater Patriae , also seen as Parens Patriae, is a Latin honorific meaning "Father of the Country," or more literally, "Father of the Fatherland".- Roman history :...
" ("Landsfaderen"), Lie maintained party discipline and staked out the political strategy in the background. From his position at the head of the party he helped orchestrate the predominant position the party was to hold in the following years, with absolute parliamentary majorities won in the 1945
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1945
These elections were held on 8 October 1945. The Labour Party won an absolute majority in the Storting which they would keep until 1961.-Results:...
, 1949
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1949
The general election of 1949 was held to elect 150 MPs to the Storting. The Norwegian Labour Party increased its share of the vote an won a large majority of seats in the chamber....
, 1953
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1953
-Results:...
and 1957
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1957
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 7 October 1957. The election was a victory for the Labour Party, and Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet could continue. The Labour party again achieved an absolute majority in parliament, together with the highest popular vote in the...
elections. During the reconstruction of the post-war years, he helped lead the party onto a more moderate path. Private versus public ownership of industry now became a practical, rather than an ideological question. The policy proved highly successful; the country experienced unprecedented growth, as well as improved conditions for the working class, during his tenure.
It was also during this period that he set up surveillance of Norwegian communists, a practice later deemed illegal by a government committee, the Lund commission. Lie himself defended his Machiavellian tactics, and once famously stated that the Labour Party was no Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
("Arbeiderpartiet er faen ingen søndagsskole"). There were also external events that aided his cause. The Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
accepted in 1947 and the Norwegian membership in NATO from 1949 drew the nation closer to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Meanwhile, the Soviet invasion
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1968 demonstrated the threat represented by the Soviet Union. Yet Lie was stronger in his support of the United States, and more fierce in his anti-communism, than most in his party. In 1961 a splinter part emerged, known as Socialist People's Party
Socialist People's Party (Norway)
Socialist People's Party was a splinter group of the Norwegian Labour Party . SF was principally dissatisfied with the pro-NATO/European Economic Community external policies of DNA. A group centered around the magazine Orientering had been expelled from DNA...
, that was to deny the Labour Party a majority in the 1961 elections
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1961
A general election was held to elect 150 MPs to the Norwegian parliament, the Storting.The Labour Party lost its absolute majority of seats that the party had held since 1945, winning 74 seats...
as well as to bring down the third cabinet Gerhardsen
Third cabinet Gerhardsen
Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet governed Norway between 22 January 1955 and 28 August 1963. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen. It had the following composition:-Cabinet members:-State Secretaries:-References:* - Regjeringen.no...
.
Meanwhile the relationship between Lie and Gerhardsen – who was far more amenable to the Soviets – grew cooler. At the national party convention of 1967 Gerhardsen openly attacked Lie, to which Lie reportedly responded by threatening to "break" Gerhardsen "like a louse" ("Jeg skal knekke deg som en lus"). Gerhardsen later regretted the attack, and later sent Lie a letter of apology - to which the latter never replied. Lie resigned as party secretary in 1969, and Gerhardsen retired from active politics the same year.
Later life
Lie remained active as a public commentator and in politics after his retirement from party politics, and even after his centenaryCentenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
. He led the losing campaign for Norwegian membership in the EEC in the early 1970s, and in 2000 he led a battle to prevent the privatisation of the national oil company Statoil
Statoil
Statoil ASA is a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro...
. His preferred method of staying updated on current international events was through weekly readings of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
.
Influenced by the support he experienced from Jewish labour leaders in the United States, he was a supporter of the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, though he is highly critical of the Israeli government's current treatment of the Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
and to the settlement of the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
He wrote several books, among them the controversial memoir ...slik jeg ser det ("...the way I see it", 1975), in which he strongly attacked Gerhardsen. He also wrote a two-volume biography of his mentor Martin Tranmæl, Et bål av vilje and Veiviseren ("A Beacon of Resolve", 1988 and "The Pathfinder", 1991). In his latest book, released in 2008 at 103 years of age, being traditionally a strong proponent of cooperation with the United States, he called for enhanced security cooperation between the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
and argued Norway should buy the Swedish JAS Gripen aircraft instead of the US-made Joint Strike Fighter.
In 1970, after retiring as party secretary, he acquired a patch of woodland where he could resume his passion for forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
. For many years he spent his winters in the US state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, but eventually moved back permanently to Norway. Lie was married twice – first to a companion from the labour youth movement, then to an American woman. He left three daughters, two by his first wife and one by the second.
Lie died on 25 May 2009, aged 103, after a long illness. He had been hospitalised six months earlier.