Word: schmidts
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...political crisis to confront the Federal Republic should do much to allay those fears. Less than two weeks after Willy Brandt stunned his countrymen by suddenly resigning as Chancellor, a new government was functioning smoothly in Bonn. Last Thursday, in the modern and austere Bundestag chambers, Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt, 55, took the oath as West Germany's fifth Chancellor...
...Schmidt, the former Finance Minister, apportioned the seats in his coalition Cabinet in almost the same ratio as they were in Brandt's: eleven Social Democrats and four Free Democrats. About half of the incumbent Ministers retained their portfolios. The most significant change was the departure of Free Democrat Chief Walter Scheel as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Last week he was elected to a five-year term as West Germany's President, a ceremonial office with little real power...
...Schmidt-Genscher team will differ considerably from Brandt and Scheel in style and policy emphasis...
Missing, at least initially, will be the personal warmth and deep mutual respect that characterized the relationship of the former Chancellor and his Foreign Minister. Socialist Schmidt has never had much love for Genscher, a free-enterprise conservative, and may be tempted to take advantage of Genscher's link with the Gunter Guillaume spy scandal that triggered Brandt's resignation. In May 1973 Genscher, who as Interior Minister was responsible for internal security, told Brandt that Guillaume, one of the Chancellor's personal aides, might be spying for the East Germans. As the only Cabinet-level official...
...Schmidt succeeded his former mentor Schiller as Finance Minister and tackled Germany's major economic problem: inflation, now running at 7.8% a year. A staunch proponent of a free market, Schmidt relied on tight-money policies rather than wage and price controls, an approach that has helped earn him the enmity of the Jusos, who make up about 25% of his own party. Last week Juso Chairman Heidi Wieczorek-Zeul called Schmidt "the worst possible choice" as Brandt's successor. Schmidt has also recently been at odds with the S.P.D.'s coalition partners, the Free Democrats...