A unique way to profile the man who has since become the Secretary General of NATO--

One day early in 2000 the world of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, then leader of the Netherlands' Christian Democrats (CDA), seemed to be falling apart. "It was as if 20 years of my eldest child's education had just been thrown down the drain," he recalls.

His daughter Caroline had just introduced her parents to her new boyfriend, Jimmy, in a restaurant in The Hague. He was a strange, English-speaking man with an earring and long hair. Born in 1947, he was a year older than De Hoop Scheffer and had been earning his living as an entertainer on some sort of “Love Boat” in the Caribbean. Jimmy was now studying astrology with a view to becoming a palm reader on a cruise ship and wished to take Caroline, who was a law student, with him on the next cruise. Jimmy also appeared to be the marrying type, unashamed of the fact that he had already been married four times.

De Hoop Scheffer and his wife Jeannine were not amused. But they tried to behave as if nothing was wrong. Only after Jimmy and Caroline left the table for a moment did they explode in frustration.

Jeannine: "Oh my God, what a mess."
Jaap: "We've just got to get through this. We'll have a serious talk with her tomorrow."
Jeannine: "This is just unbelievable."
Jaap: "It's unacceptable."
Jeannine: "What a complete idiot."
Jaap: "This is a disaster. He's awful and he’s manipulating her."

De Hoop Scheffer quickly devised a rescue plan: he would get Caroline's best friend to persuade her to change her mind......

Read more of the profile Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: Diplomatic long distance runner