NationStates Jolt Archive

There've been plenty of "Favourite US President"-polls, so I thought to myself "Why not?".
Since its inception in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has had an interesting run, and some notable characters as leaders.
EDIT: Please vote, even if you haven't heard of most of these people...there are wiki-links for all of them.:)

Konrad Adenauer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer)
From 1917-1933 he was mayor of Cologne, but during the Nazi era he lost his job, was briefly imprisoned, and stayed out of the public light. He was accused of being part in the assassination attempt on Hitler, but he wasn't involved, since he had declined the offer.
In the tough times after the war, he can be credited with restoring much of Germany's credibility and integrating Germany into the West.

Ludwig Erhard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard)
A good friend of Adenauer's, this economist is the chief architect of the social market economy and of the economic miracle. When the allies wanted to keep the price controls in the country, it was Erhard who abolished them (although that wasn't his job...) In my view, that alone makes him 2nd only to Bismarck.

Kurt Kiesinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)
Well, he was boring. His only notable "achievement" was that he headed the first Grand Coalition, which has become somewhat topical these days.

Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt)
He's generally regarded as the best man the SPD ever had. He got the Nobel Peace Prize, managed to normalise relations somewhat with East Germany and other communist countries, which was quite controversial. He also took a couragous stand on the holocaust, when he fell to his knees at a memorial on a state visit to Poland. He had to resign when it was found out that one of his close co-workers and friends was a communist spy...

Helmut Schmidt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Schmidt)
I like the guy because he is a big part of my favourite newspaper, Die Zeit, and because he's from Hamburg. He took a fairly tough line on Germany's own terrorist threat, the RAF, and continued to emphasise ties with Nato.

Helmut Kohl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl)
Big Man Kohl...well, he was a political animal - most likely an elephant. He crushed all opposition, both inside his party and out, and made Germany his own for 16 years.
Pros include the reunification, which he pulled off against resistance from all sides.
Cons include the way the reunification was handled and his involvement in the CDU corruption scandal.
Nonetheless, he's good for quotes.

"I have been underestimated for decades. I've done very well that way."
"We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe."
"Wenn der bayrische Löwe brüllt, verbreitet er nur noch Mundgeruch!"


Gerhard Schröder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der)
Well, most of you would know all there is to know about him. He's probably more like Kohl than he would admit, they both are animals when it comes to politics.
At any rate, most notably among Schröder's achievements were keeping Germany out of Iraq, leaving nuclear energy (I disagree with that one) and finally beginning the long reform process that really should have been done by Kohl.

Willy!!!!!!:D :D :D

Konrad Adenauer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer)Great man. Didn't take care of some problems he should have, though. "What should I care for my idle chatter of yesterday." says why I don't regard him as the greatest.

Ludwig Erhard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard)He did well in Adenauer's cabinet, but was a total failure as Chancellor.

Kurt Kiesinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)Meh. "Übergangskanzler" describes him rather well.

Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt):D
The best Chancellor we had. Did what had to be done and probably helped bring about the end of the Cold War by peaceful means a lot sooner. And he's from my home town: (West) Berlin. He took more flak than he deserved, in my opinion.

Helmut Schmidt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Schmidt)Hehe. The look on Kohl's face when the SPD entered a coalition with the FDP was classic, but not really enough to make Schmidt a big man.

Helmut Kohl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl)Bäh. My first political action ever was booing against him. He managed Unification, but that in no way excuses the deficiencies he left behind after 16 years of near stagnation (and corruption, as it turned out).

Gerhard Schröder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der)Too much of an asskisser to Putin to be a good man. Schröder was the lesser of two evils, it seems. His only plus is that he actually did things (unlike Kohl), and that Stoiber would have been much worse.

Willy!!!!!!:D :D :D

Seconded.

I'm sure someone who actually knows something about modern German history is going to reduce me to a small vibrating blob for this, but my instinct is to follow the crowd. Willy.

I'm sure someone who actually knows something about modern German history is going to reduce me to a small vibrating blob for this, but my instinct is to follow the crowd. Willy.Well, Leonstein did give you a synopsis in the beginning...

bump

There've been plenty of "Favourite US President"-polls, so I thought to myself "Why not?".
Since its inception in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has had an interesting run, and some notable characters as leaders.

Konrad Adenauer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer)
From 1917-1933 he was mayor of Cologne, but during the Nazi era he lost his job, was briefly imprisoned, and stayed out of the public light. He was accused of being part in the assassination attempt on Hitler, but he wasn't involved, since he had declined the offer.
In the tough times after the war, he can be credited with restoring much of Germany's credibility and integrating Germany into the West.

Ludwig Erhard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard)
A good friend of Adenauer's, this economist is the chief architect of the social market economy and of the economic miracle. When the allies wanted to keep the price controls in the country, it was Erhard who abolished them (although that wasn't his job...) In my view, that alone makes him 2nd only to Bismarck.

Kurt Kiesinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)
Well, he was boring. His only notable "achievement" was that he headed the first Grand Coalition, which has become somewhat topical these days.

Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt)
He's generally regarded as the best man the SPD ever had. He got the Nobel Peace Prize, managed to normalise relations somewhat with East Germany and other communist countries, which was quite controversial. He also took a couragous stand on the holocaust, when he fell to his knees at a memorial on a state visit to Poland. He had to resign when it was found out that one of his close co-workers and friends was a communist spy...

Helmut Schmidt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Schmidt)
I like the guy because he is a big part of my favourite newspaper, Die Zeit, and because he's from Hamburg. He took a fairly tough line on Germany's own terrorist threat, the RAF, and continued to emphasise ties with Nato.

Helmut Kohl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl)
Big Man Kohl...well, he was a political animal - most likely an elephant. He crushed all opposition, both inside his party and out, and made Germany his own for 16 years.
Pros include the reunification, which he pulled off against resistance from all sides.
Cons include the way the reunification was handled and his involvement in the CDU corruption scandal.
Nonetheless, he's good for quotes.

"I have been underestimated for decades. I've done very well that way."
"We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe."
"Wenn der bayrische Löwe brüllt, verbreitet er nur noch Mundgeruch!"


Gerhard Schröder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der)
Well, most of you would know all there is to know about him. He's probably more like Kohl than he would admit, they both are animals when it comes to politics.
At any rate, most notably among Schröder's achievements were keeping Germany out of Iraq, leaving nuclear energy (I disagree with that one) and finally beginning the long reform process that really should have been done by Kohl.


hitler did ok for you hypocrites.....now america is the evil one...lol....what a freakin joke...germany caused more death then satan.....but ok...we said sorry and whatnot...now america is bad because we got an idiout monkey boy in charge...but we dont stuff our opponentes into ovens and say...alls good and say 20 years later...my bad...screw you and how dare you point a finger at us....we saved you from yourselves...and of coarse the french(you know...they will fight till the last drop of english blood..lol)kinda liked us till they realized they weren't getting a free ride...
please..all you euros can blather on about how bad we are...and i will agree about the ridiculous influence of the church...but please...if it wasnt for us...you would be saying seigheil....or worse...but you are so much smarter then us hillbillie americans....thanks alot for your intelect.....my dad died saving your ass.:sniper:


oh..by the way..go ask hitler or stalin or even fidel...if you can speak your mind..lol...go ahead...but we suck and are the epicenter of evil....i am flabbergasted at the idiocy of college kids....my kid included...


have a great debate with the ivory tower twit you respect....then go and try...try to understand the real world.

i dont know..maybe he is right..he lives for free and cant be called on the carpet..or worse..into action...but he sure sounds like he knows what he is tliking about...or you DONT

wake up...it aint school crap and debates...they hate us..and will kill you as soon as look at you...i want to understand that mindset?

-snip-
What in the world are you on?

i am am beyond baffled and a bit drunk..lol....i know..chop my head off for getting drunk...sorry.:headbang:
Oh.

Well, once you calmed down you might want to appologise.:rolleyes:

Adenauer--his task was the hardest, and he accomplished it (with a little help of his friend Erhard) quite well. The establishment of the special relationship with France (and its 'speciality' was of different kind than in 1871-1945) is alone sufficient to make him No 1, I think.

all you euros can blather on about how bad we are...and i will agree about the ridiculous influence of the church...but please...if it wasnt for us...you would be saying seigheil....

You are a fool if you trully believe that, and obviously have no understanding of history. By the time the US invaded Normandy the Germans had already lost the war on the Eastern Front.

Oh and I vote Brandt.

We´ll see , how Angie will be....but i think , its a question of time , that Roland Koch will be the new cancellor

Willy Brandt.

Yes, I know that Adenauer did a great job in starting to rebuild Germany after the war, that his achievements in stabilising Europe cannot be overestimated, especially his efforts regading the reconcilliation with France and Germany's membership in the NATO.

But Adenauer was focused on the west, he gave up on the east too soon. He basically cemented the German separation and is to some extend responsible for the icy political climate between east and west for decades.
Brandt opened up the dialog between the two blocks again, he had enough greatness to face German history without being a sobbing apologist. In retrospect, one could say that he took the first steps towards the German reunification and by opening up both sides eventually initiated the decline of commnism.

Hitler!In the title, you didnt say federal... and I dont really like hitler...

Willy Brandt

In the title, you didnt say federal... and I dont really like hitler...
In the poll I said "Federal" - otherwise everyone would end up choosing Bismarck.

Hitler!In the title, you didnt say federal... and I dont really like hitler...No. It still isn't funny.

Was Hitler Chancellor?

Was Hitler Chancellor?Reichskanzler, yes. Bundeskanzler, no. The poll asks for Federal Chancellors only.

Reichskanzler, yes. Bundeskanzler, no. The poll asks for Federal Chancellors only.

It IS a bit like asking who your favourite American president was and having people answer "Pitt the Elder".... :rolleyes:

Reichskanzler, yes. Bundeskanzler, no. The poll asks for Federal Chancellors only.
So you are talking about Reunification?

It IS a bit like asking who your favourite American president was and having people answer "Pitt the Elder".... :rolleyes:
No its not fool.

The best American President is President Jefferson Davis.

The best American President is President Jefferson Davis.

Unsurprisingly, a small minority of americans have bumper stickers to that effect.

So you are talking about Reunification?

God, I do hope you're joking.... :eek:

God, I do hope you're joking.... :eek:
The North and South got Reunified like 140 years ago man!

Unsurprisingly, a small minority of americans have bumper stickers to that effect.
Excellent idea.

Back to the original track, hijackers!

The best federal (!) chancellor in my opinion was Helmut Schmidt for

1) being from Hamburg :D

2) being a very realistic and distinguished man

3) for dealing with terrorist threat in a decisive way without waging war against it :rolleyes:

4) okay, that was before his time as a chancellor...his crisis management in the great flood 1962, saved many lives...and being unpretentious about it (see 2.)

I voted Kohl
he seems nice enough.

Adenauer was an arse.

I voted Kohl
he seems nice enough.

Adenauer was an arse.

Well, at least Adenauer didn't take bribes...

I voted Kohl
he seems nice enough.
That's what his enemies thought...

Adenauer was an arse.
Please elaborate. I second Olantia when it comes to him.

Well, at least Adenauer didn't take bribes...

How do you know ;)

Perhaps it was called "Spenden" even then...:p

How do you know ;)

Perhaps it was called "Spenden" even then...:p

Ok, let me re-phrase :
At least he didn't get caught... ;)

Ok, let me re-phrase :
At least he didn't get caught... ;)

Sign of cleverness...:p

Well, at least Adenauer didn't take bribes...
........

Isnt he the one that pissed off America?

Isnt he the one that pissed off America?
Read the link on page 1.

He did exactly the opposite. He was the first Chancellor after the War and integrated West Germany with the rest of Europe and put it on its way into NATO.

Erhard.

Brandt was the second worst German Chancellor of all time (Hitler being the worst, obviously), although Bismarck (Hitler's hero) was pretty bad, too.

Brandt was the second worst German Chancellor of all time (Hitler being the worst, obviously), although Bismarck (Hitler's hero) was pretty bad, too.
Care to elaborate?
And who's your favourite then?

Care to elaborate?
And who's your favourite then?

I'm no German, but I am a huge admirer of Erhard and Adenauer (especially Erhard).

Willy!