Word: chancellor
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...clocks in Bonn stood at 15 minutes to midnight when Economics Minister Otto Graf Lambsdorff appeared at the office of Chancellor Helmut Kohl last week to tender his resignation. The outspoken Lambsdorff, 57, who had spent nearly seven years in the key Cabinet post, is expected soon to be formally charged by the Bonn public prosecutor's office with accepting $50,000 on behalf of the Free Democratic Party (F.D.P.) from the Flick Holding Co. in exchange for allowing the firm generous tax writeoffs. Lambsdorff, who will retain his seat in the Bundestag, insisted on his innocence. "The charges...
Kohl praised Lambsdorff, then moved quickly to replace him. The Chancellor's choice: Martin Bangemann, 49, a lawyer and maverick F.D.P. leader from Baden-Wurttemberg. Bangemann became available for the Economics portfolio after he lost his seat in the European Parliament in elections two weeks...
Kohl's prompt action effectively quieted speculation that a wholesale Cabinet shake-up would follow Lambsdorffs' resignation. The Chancellor also wanted to forestall pressure from Franz Josef Strauss, the leader of the Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (one of the three parties in the governing coalition), who makes no secret of his desire for a major Cabinet post. Strauss, however, played almost no role last week, since he was mourning the sudden death of his wife Marianne, 54, in an automobile accident...
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl had more reason than most of his colleagues to be satisfied with the outcome of the election. With 46%, his ruling Christian Democrats lost only 3.2 percentage points compared with their showing in last year's national elections. For a party in power, that was an exceptional performance, especially when compared with that of the opposition Social Democrats, who dropped 3.4% from last year despite a campaign appeal to "send the government a reminder." But Kohl and his ministers had little cause to celebrate: the Free Democratic Party, the small but pivotal junior partner...
...Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who was 14 in 1944, had earlier denied reports that he officially sought to be included in the Normandy gathering. According to his aides, however, he had indicated to French President Francois Mitterrand last February that in the spirit of reconciliation, he would not mind being present. Mitterrand shrugged off the hint, and Kohl swallowed the rejection. Said Kohl last week: "The German Chancellor has no reason to celebrate when others celebrate a victory in battle that cost 10,000 German soldiers their lives." Neither Bonn nor the West German public took much comfort from a French...