Schröder, Gerhard

Schröder, Gerhard (b. 7 Apr. 1944). Chancellor of Germany, 1998–  Born in Mossenberg, he completed an apprenticeship as a salesman, completing his high school exams at night school. Schröder studied law at Göttingen University, and from the age of 19 became active in politics. He joined the SPD and in 1978 became head of its federal youth organization. He became a member of the federal parliament in 1980, and in 1986 became Minister President in the state of Lower Saxony. A pragmatic politician without any discernible ideological commitments, his brash, undisguised hunger for power made him few friends in the federal SPD in the early 1990s. However, as one SPD leader after another faltered against Helmut Kohl, he finally won the party's nomination for Chancellor in 1998. He led his party to victory in its second best result since 1949, and formed a coalition with the Green Party, commanding a comfortable majority in the federal parliament. His majority in the second chamber of states, however, eroded within a year, and it was not until the retreat of the left-wing Lafontaine from government that his authority began to solidify. Schröder's domestic political position was further enhanced by a corruption scandal involving the CDU. His government tried to establish itself firmly as a party of the centre ground, by introducing moderate pension reform, reducing the budget deficit, and realizing a tax reform. A consummate politician, by the end of his term his popularity was still high, but his party suffered increasingly low ratings owing to the poor showing of a number of his ministers.