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During and after he held office he was a greatly respected figure in the eyes of the people, even amongst those not sharing his social democratic views. Popularily named "Landsfaderen" (meaning Father of the Nation) for his great achievements in building the modern Norway after World War II. Norway changed from being a rather weak, poor and underdeveloped nation into a prosperous and industrialized state in his period. Poverty, lack of housing, slums and unemployment virtually became non-existent as a result of the planned policy of industrialisation, investing in infrastructureInfrastructure is the set of interconnected structural elements that provide the framework for supporting the entire structure. The term is often used very abstractly. For instance, software engineering tools are sometimes described as part of the infrast and education, redistributing wealth through high progressive taxation and regulating finance. Norway is still influenced by the policies of his era, but much of the social advances of that time has been reverted and Norway have again a growing population of poverty stricken, despite the fact that Norway today has a vast income from the offshore petroleum industry. ( Economy of NorwayOverview The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of social capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state ente).

^† Nygaardsvold, along with his cabinet as well as the entire parliament, resided in exile in London during WWII while Norway was occupied by Nazi-Germany. In parts of this period Vidkun Quisling, leader of non-democratic political party Nasjonal Samling, assumed a degree of formal power, but in reality the country was governed by the occupants, represented by Reichskommissar Josef Terboven.