204. Editorial Note
During the 6 weeks following the resignation of the Fagerholm Cabinet, President Kekkonen made 11 unsuccessful attempts to form a governing coalition. Finally, on January 13, 1959, he appointed Diet speaker Vieno Johannes Sukselainen to head an Agrarian Party minority government. Sukselainen subsequently filled 14 out of 15 Cabinet positions with Agrarians (not including the five Agrarian Ministers who had served in the previous Fagerholm government), with the sole exception being Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ralf Törngren, a member of the Swedish Party. (Despatch 447 from Helsinki, January 14, 1959; Department of State, Central Files, 760E.00/1–1459)