EP41: Urho Kekkonen

Urho Kekkonen served as President of Finland between 1956 and 1982. Kekkonen towered over the Finnish political system, creating a complex system whereby he co-opted his potential adversaries into an ever-larger coalition, such that at election time, he was safe from serious political opposition. Early on in his political career, Kekkonen decided that faced with a much larger much stronger neighbour, Finland’s best hope was to give the Soviet Union just enough control over Finland that the So...