By 1972 he was finance minister under Chancellor Willy Brandt and became known as a brilliant manager of the West German economic miracle and a strong advocate of Ostpolitik, his leader’s policy of reconciliation with Eastern Europe.
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Schmidt, Germany’s longest-serving Social Democratic chancellor, had never enjoyed the same popularity within his party as Brandt, being perceived by a few members as cold and overbearing.
Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982, has died at the age of 96, his office has said. He was released that August.Schmidt later said that, as a young soldier, he had recognized the Nazi regimes lunacy but not its criminal nature at first.Schmidt entered West Germanys parliament in 1953, where he earned the nickname Schmidt the Lip, a tribute to his sharp-tongued debating skills.
Meanwhile, other world leaders, including French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, took to Twitter to honor the former chancellor. “We are mourning Schmidt and are proud that he was one of us”. He was well-known for his plain-spoken style, as well as his commitment to the transatlantic relationship. “We will miss his powerful judgement and advice”, tweeted SPD leader and vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.
But gradually his authority was eroded, until he was left in the lurch by his erstwhile Liberal allies and ousted by Helmut Kohl in October 1982.
Capable of being both amusing and brusque, Schmidt once famously dismissed an interviewer’s question, saying: “Anyone who has visions should see a doctor”.
Soraya adds, “More recently, the chain-smoking former statesman co-published a prestigious weekly German newspaper”. He also accused former East Germany of “whininess” for constantly stressing its economic problems. But it was unpopular with much of the German public.
“We have lost a sharp-witted adviser, a trusted companion and a good friend”, Die Zeit said in a statement.
“The history of this continent shaped him for nearly a century and made him a committed European”, said Juncker. In that same year he helped launch the European Monetary System which paved the way for the euro.
Schmidt was also an exceedingly complicated man. He joined the Hitler Youth and fought with the Nazis during World War II, all while harboring the secret his grandfather was Jewish.
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“He loved freedom because he had experienced war, he protected in times of threats what was close to him and all our hearts – our freedom, our democracy and peace”. His teenage years were shaped by the war, and it was on a leave in 1942 that he married a childhood friend, Hannalore “Loki” Glaser. They had two children, an infant son who died of meningitis in 1945, and a daughter, Susanne who, like her father, is an economist.
