Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (born April 7, 1944), a German politician, has served since 1998 as Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor and head of government) of Germany. He is member, and was for a time the chairman, of the left-of-center Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD). He heads a coalition of the SPD and the German Green Party.
(His surname often appears spelled Schroeder in accordance with the standard conversion of umlauts.)
Political career
Schröder joined the SPD in 1963.
In 1978 Schröder became the federal chairman of the Young Socialists, the youth organisation of the SPD. In 1980 he gained election to the German Bundestag, and stood out provocatively as a young parliamentarian who wore a sweater to work instead of the traditional suit-and-tie. He became chairman of the SPD Hanover district. 1986 saw his election to the regional parliament of Lower Saxony as leader of the SPD faction. At the same time, he became a member of the board of the federal SPD. He became Bundeskanzler on October 27, 1998 after having won elections in Lower Saxony for the third time in March that year and serving as Ministerpräsident there since 1990.
In the general elections on September 22, 2002, he secured another four-year term, thanks to the victory of his governing Red-Green coalition.
After the resignation of Oskar Lafontaine from his office as SPD chairman in March, 1999, Schröder held that office as well. In February, 2004, he resigned as chairman of the SPD to concentrate, as Chancellor, on German reform processes. (Franz Müntefering succeeded him as chairman.) Speculation suggests that the SPD's historical low level of popularity in opinion polls provides one reason for his resignation as chairman.
Political activity
Foreign policy
Prior to Schröder's Federal Chancellorship, no Bundeswehr troops ever served outside NATO territory. Schröder sent units to Kosovo and to Afghanistan.
Though Germany had had long experience of terrorism, Schröder declared full solidarity with the United States of America after that country became more aware of the phenomenon in September 2001.
Along with French President Jacques Chirac, Schröder spoke out strongly against the war on Iraq during 2003, and refused any military assistance in that enterprise. His opposition has given rise to political friction between the United States of America and Germany, as Germany had a reputation as one of the USA's most important and intimate allies since the end of World War II. Schröder's opposition to the war had multiple reasons, including the position that the German constitution prohibited it from entering a war as an aggressor.
Domestic policy
Schröder's red-green alliance government achieved a reputation for some progressive projects -- for example, for funding renewable energies, liberalising homosexual partnerships, and trying to stop the Bundesländer introducing studying fees. Most voters associate Schröder with the Agenda 2010 reform programme, which includes cuts in the social security (medical aid, unemployment security, pensions), lowering taxes, and reducing regulations on employment and payment. After the 2003 election, Schröder's SPD party steadily lost votes in opinion polls. What started as a third way programme in line with Tony Blair and Bill Clinton became to many eyes a harsh knock-down of the German welfare state.
Political style
In the first years of his government, Schröder became known as the Medienkanzler (chancellor of the media). He also gained a reputation for governing by commissions. After several changes in his cabinet, growing resistance in the now CDU-dominated Bundesrat, and losing popularity, Schröder's style changed to something based largely on the authoritative power of the chancellor's office.
Vita
Schröder's career, starting from a proletarian background, spanned a period as a successful lawyer, as well as politics.
Schröder was born in Mossenberg, in the county of Lippe-Detmold (today North Rhine-Westphalia). His father died in World War II weeks after young Gerhard's birth. His mother worked on farms to feed the family, consisting of herself and her two sons. Later she married again (Paul Vosseler), but continued to work hard -- as a cleaning woman -- to feed the five children of the family, now living in Bexten.
Schröder initially worked as a sales clerk in Göttingen, meanwhile studying at night school to gain a Mittlere Reife (high school) diploma. Still trying to learn more and to gain the possibility to attend university, in 1966 Schröder passed the Abitur test at Westfalen-Kolleg, Bielefeld. From 1966 to 1971 he studied law at the University of Göttingen. During the summer vacation he worked to earn his living. From 1972 onwards, Schröder served as an assistant at Göttingen University. In 1976 he passed his second law examination; he worked as a lawyer until 1990.
Schröder has married four times, to:
- Eva Schubach, married 1968, divorced 1972
- Anne Taschenmacher, married 1972, divorced 1984
- Hiltrud Hampel, married 1984, divorced 1997
- Doris Köpf, married 1997
With the marriage with Doris Köpf, he became father of her daughter Clara. When not in Berlin, the capital of Germany, he lives in Hanover.
Schröder identifies himself as a Protestant, but does not appear very religious; for example he did not add the optional So wahr mir Gott helfe formula (if God will help me) when sworn in as chancellor for his first term in 1998.
See also
External Links
| Preceded by: Helmut Kohl |
Chancellors of Germany |
Another Gerhard Schröder also functioned in the German political scene: a member of the CDU party and minister of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Defense in the 1950s and 1960s. See Gerhard Schröder (CDU).