Helmut Schmidt, Who Led West Germany's Economic Gains, Dies : The Two-Way : NPR Helmut Schmidt, Who Led West Germany's Economic Gains, Dies Helmut Schmidt, the former West German Chancellor, has died at age 96. He's seen here with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at a 1979 news conference in London. Steve Burton/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Steve Burton/Getty Images Helmut Schmidt, the former West German Chancellor, has died at age 96. He's seen here with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at a 1979 news conference in London. Steve Burton/Getty Images During his eight years in office, he was admired for the way he steered West Germany through both an economic crisis and violent outbursts of terrorism. Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has died at his home in Hamburg at 96. In response to the oil crisis of the early 1970s, Schmidt worked with French leaders to set into motion the monetary system that today unites the economies of the European Union. He also worked with both France and the U.S. to hold global economic summits.

"The beloved West German leader helped craft his country's economic success in the 1970s," NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Berlin. "He took a tough stance toward the Soviet Union and homegrown terrorism, and often clashed with then-President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues." Soraya adds, "More recently, the chain-smoking former statesman co-published a prestigious weekly German newspaper." Schmidt was also in office during the "German Autumn," the name given for the sequence of events in 1977 that ranged from violent attacks by the Red Army Faction (also called the Baader-Meinhof Gang) to the deadly hijacking of a Lufthansa plane. The airliner's passengers were eventually rescued by a German force in Mogadishu. Article continues after sponsorship Earlier this year, Schmidt was also one of dozens of influential Germans who signed a petition to protest an anti-Islam movement . And in 2011, as the economic ties that bind Europe were tested by crisis, Schmidt visited the scene of a summit on Greece's economy to urge EU leaders to work together. As NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reported : "Schmidt was brought to the stage in a wheelchair.

And in a loud voice, he rebuked the current leaders, saying anyone who considers his own nation more important than common Europe damages the fundamental interests of his own country. And in a clear reference to Greece, he said the strongest must help the weak. And he reminded his successor that after World War II, Germany's debt was also restructured." Schmidt became West Germany's chancellor in 1974; when his run in office ended in 1982, the post went to Helmut Kohl, who oversaw Germany's reunification. President Obama cited Schmidt's leadership during a pivotal period: "He was a firm, sure voice in a time of uncertainty and was widely admired for his principled approach to advancing détente while also standing firmly against aggression and violations of fundamental freedoms and human rights. His work helped advance our shared vision of building a peaceful and democratic Europe." Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Died Today Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Died Today Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Died Today World leaders praise the former chancellor as a great German leader and European. Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt died at age 96.

Advertisements Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who led West Germany from 1974 to 1982 during the Cold War, has died at age 96. His doctor reported that Schmidt died Tuesday in Hamburg after suffering from an infection that developed after a blood clot was removed from his leg a couple of months ago. Schmidt’s early years, and his time as Germany’s chancellor Schmidt was born in Hamburg in 1918 and fought in WWII, where he was captured by the British. He was married to his childhood love, Loki, for 68 years before her death in 2010 . The couple had a son that died as an infant, as well as a daughter. Schmidt was the German chancellor during a very turbulent period of time, including not just the Cold War, but also the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, and a period of terrorism issues in West Germany that Schmidt stood firmly against. He is considered to have been a Social Democrat, who went on to become a statesman who was active in German politics throughout his life.

National leaders express sorrow upon news that Helmut Schmidt died Several nation’s leaders expressed their thoughts after learning that Helmut Schmidt died, including European Parliament head Martin Schulz, who said he was deeply saddened by Schmidt’s death. French President Francois Hollande paid tribute to Schmidt and praised the former chancellor as being a great European, while the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, hailed him as being a great statesman and a historic figure even while he was still alive. Werner Faymann, Chancellor of Austria, also added that Schmidt had left his mark on not just Germany, but on all of Europe, and that he was a key architect in a peaceful and unified Europe. Schmidt was the first German honored by the World Jewish Congress, which said that Schmidt will be greatly missed. The head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, spoke up, calling Schmidt a great patriot, European and Social Democrat, who was one of the greatest statesman of his country. Germany's president Joachim Gauck defined Schmidt as being a man of action who knew freedom also means responsibility and he took on that responsibility.

These were only some of the words of praise and admiration spoken about Schmidt by people all over the world as # News that the former chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt died. # World Politics Advertisements Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt dies at age 96 | SunHerald November 10, 2015 9:00 AM Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt dies at age 96 Center-left Social Democrat navigated the economic turbulence and Cold War tension in the 1970s, early 1980s He disputed with U.S. President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues Known for his sometimes abrasive self-confidence, he nonetheless became a respected elder statesman In this April 2, 2009, photo former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt smokes a cigarette during a discussion hosted by the ECB in Frankfurt, central Germany. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Daniel Roland AP In This Nov. 16, 1974 file photo German Christian Democratic Party chairman Helmut Kohl, left , takes the red clove Chancellor Helmut Schmidt offers him at "The Federal Press Ball" in Bonn, West Germany.

Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. KLAUS SCHLAGMANN AP U.S. President Jimmy Carter and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt are all smiles as they prepare to depart Berlin in this July 15, 1978 photo. Carter and Schmidt came to Berlin to see the Berlin Wall, the Airlift Memorial and hold a Town Meeting with citizens of Berlin. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. AP West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, left, and his wife Loki during their holiday in Samnaun, Switzerland, in 2003. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Arno Balzarini Keystone/AP In this Nov. 5, 1980, photo West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt sits alone in the empty government Bench in the parliament in Bonn after he was sworn in as new chancellor. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Helmut Lohmann AP In this Oct.

2, 1979 file photo French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing is welcomed by West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, left, upon arrival in Bonn to attend 34th round of France-German talks in Bonn. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. AP 1 of 6 Order Reprint of this Story BERLIN Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor who guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman, died Tuesday. He was 96. German weekly Die Zeit, of which Schmidt was a co-publisher, confirmed in a statement that he died at his house in Hamburg Schmidt, a center-left Social Democrat, led West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was elected chancellor by lawmakers in May 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent.

The new leader brought a sometimes abrasive self-confidence and his experience as West Germany’s defense, finance and economy ministers to the job, which he took during the economic downturn that followed the 1973 oil crisis. Schmidt’s chancellorship coincided with a tense period in the Cold War, including the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. He went along the following year with the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, although he later said that it “brought nothing.” Schmidt later said he had disputes with the United States under President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues at the time and concluded “that we Germans could not afford an extra conflict with America,” West Germany’s protector against the Soviets. Amid efforts to ward off a global recession, Schmidt was among the movers behind the first economic summit of leading industrial powers at Rambouillet, France, in 1975, which later turned into the annual Group of Seven meeting. He and then-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing also played leading roles organizing the European Monetary System, aimed at protecting European currencies from wild fluctuations, which ultimately paved the way for the common European currency, the euro. Born Dec.

23, 1918, the son of a half-Jewish school teacher in the northern city of Hamburg, Schmidt joined the Hitler Youth when his rowing team was included in the Nazi youth organization, but was suspended at age 17 – “probably because my griping got on their nerves.” Drafted as a soldier during World War II, Schmidt’s unit was deployed in the Soviet Union in 1941. He was sent to the western front at the end of the war and taken as prisoner by British forces in April 1945. He was released that August. Schmidt later said that, as a young soldier, he had recognized the Nazi regime’s lunacy but not its criminal nature at first. Schmidt entered West Germany’s parliament in 1953, where he earned the nickname “Schmidt the Lip,” a tribute to his sharp-tongued debating skills. He made his name back in his native Hamburg with his decisive 1962 management of severe flooding. As chancellor, Schmidt’s confidence served him well in facing down the homegrown terrorism of the Red Army Faction, which grew out of the leftist student movement in the 1960s.

In a 1977 campaign of violence that became known as the “German Autumn,” the group murdered, among others, West Germany’s chief federal prosecutor and the chief executive of Dresdner Bank. Schmidt stood firm, refusing to release jailed Red Army Faction leaders even after the group kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer, the head of the country’s industry federation. “The state must react with all the necessary toughness,” he declared. While Schleyer was being held in 1977, hijackers commandeered a Lufthansa plane to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to force the release of the Red Army Faction leaders. Schmidt ordered West German anti-terrorist commandos to storm the jet, successfully rescuing 86 hostages. Shortly afterward, three of the terrorist group’s leaders killed themselves in prison and Schleyer was found murdered. Schmidt later said “I was prepared to resign” if the Mogadishu operation had gone wrong. Although convinced he had taken the right action, he also conceded he felt guilty about Schleyer’s slaying.

It was not easy for Schmidt being between the world’s two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union, and his support for NATO’s 1979 “double track” deploy-and-negotiate move to counter the deployments of Soviet SS-20 missiles proved divisive at home. NATO gave the go-ahead for the modernization of its nuclear force in West Germany and elsewhere in western Europe by deploying cruise and Pershing 2 missiles while, at the same time, seeking a joint limitation of the nuclear buildup through negotiations with the Soviet Union. Backing the NATO policy helped estrange Schmidt from his own party. Missile deployment in West Germany was fiercely opposed by many younger, more left-wing Social Democrats, and in 1983, an upstart leftist rival, the Greens, entered parliament for the first time. Schmidt’s chancellorship ended with his ouster in a parliamentary vote in October 1982, when his party’s coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats, switched its allegiance to Helmut Kohl’s conservative Christian Democrats due to disputes over economic policy and the squabbling within Schmidt’s party. Schmidt did not run for chancellor again, citing health concerns.

He had been fitted with a heart pacemaker and also suffered from a thyroid condition. In August 2002, he underwent an emergency bypass operation after suffering a heart attack. Two years later, he had cataract surgery. After stepping down as a lawmaker in 1987, Schmidt devoted himself to working as co-publisher of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. Schmidt continued to weigh in on Germany’s political debates, rarely shying away from controversy – which gave him a reputation for plain speaking that won him favorable comparisons with other German politicians. “To this day, he ranks among the personalities in our nation who can give direction to their own country and are listened to internationally,” Hans-Dietrich Genscher, his former foreign minister, wrote on Schmidt’s 90th birthday in 2008. His lasting influence was underlined by the huge success of his 1987 memoir, “Menschen und Maechte” (“People and Powers”) – a best-seller for more than a year.

Schmidt argued in a 2002 book that Germany had brought in too many immigrants in an idealistic attempt to overcome its Nazi past, saying his countrymen were “for the most part xenophobic deep down.” In 2003, he drew criticism for complaining about the “whininess” of people in the former East Germany, an area that struggled economically for years after Germany’s 1990 reunification. “People complain about some things that they should not complain about,” he declared. Schmidt never abandoned his politically incorrect habit of chain-smoking. That earned him and his wife, Hannelore – better known as Loki – the honor of being parodied on German television as “Loki and Smoki.” In 2008, Hamburg prosecutors threw out an anti-smoking group’s complaint against the couple after they lit up in a theater, flouting a newly introduced smoking ban. Schmidt and Loki, the childhood sweetheart he married in 1942, had one daughter, Susanne. Their first child, a son named Helmut Walter, died in 1945 when he was only a few months old. Loki Schmidt died at age 91 in 2010.

Schmidt in 2012 introduced longtime acquaintance Ruth Loah, a former employee at Die Zeit, as his new partner. ––– Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt dies at age 96 | The Wichita Eagle November 10, 2015 9:00 AM Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt dies at age 96 Center-left Social Democrat navigated the economic turbulence and Cold War tension in the 1970s, early 1980s He disputed with U.S. President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues Known for his sometimes abrasive self-confidence, he nonetheless became a respected elder statesman In this April 2, 2009, photo former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt smokes a cigarette during a discussion hosted by the ECB in Frankfurt, central Germany. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Daniel Roland AP In This Nov. 16, 1974 file photo German Christian Democratic Party chairman Helmut Kohl, left , takes the red clove Chancellor Helmut Schmidt offers him at "The Federal Press Ball" in Bonn, West Germany. Helmut Schmidt died Nov.

10, 2015. He was 96. KLAUS SCHLAGMANN AP U.S. President Jimmy Carter and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt are all smiles as they prepare to depart Berlin in this July 15, 1978 photo. Carter and Schmidt came to Berlin to see the Berlin Wall, the Airlift Memorial and hold a Town Meeting with citizens of Berlin. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. AP West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, left, and his wife Loki during their holiday in Samnaun, Switzerland, in 2003. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Arno Balzarini Keystone/AP In this Nov. 5, 1980, photo West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt sits alone in the empty government Bench in the parliament in Bonn after he was sworn in as new chancellor. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. Helmut Lohmann AP In this Oct.

2, 1979 file photo French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing is welcomed by West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, left, upon arrival in Bonn to attend 34th round of France-German talks in Bonn. Helmut Schmidt died Nov. 10, 2015. He was 96. AP 1 of 6 Order Reprint of this Story BERLIN Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor who guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman, died Tuesday. He was 96. German weekly Die Zeit, of which Schmidt was a co-publisher, confirmed in a statement that he died at his house in Hamburg Schmidt, a center-left Social Democrat, led West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was elected chancellor by lawmakers in May 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent.

The new leader brought a sometimes abrasive self-confidence and his experience as West Germany’s defense, finance and economy ministers to the job, which he took during the economic downturn that followed the 1973 oil crisis. Schmidt’s chancellorship coincided with a tense period in the Cold War, including the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. He went along the following year with the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, although he later said that it “brought nothing.” Schmidt later said he had disputes with the United States under President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues at the time and concluded “that we Germans could not afford an extra conflict with America,” West Germany’s protector against the Soviets. Amid efforts to ward off a global recession, Schmidt was among the movers behind the first economic summit of leading industrial powers at Rambouillet, France, in 1975, which later turned into the annual Group of Seven meeting. He and then-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing also played leading roles organizing the European Monetary System, aimed at protecting European currencies from wild fluctuations, which ultimately paved the way for the common European currency, the euro. Born Dec.

23, 1918, the son of a half-Jewish school teacher in the northern city of Hamburg, Schmidt joined the Hitler Youth when his rowing team was included in the Nazi youth organization, but was suspended at age 17 – “probably because my griping got on their nerves.” Drafted as a soldier during World War II, Schmidt’s unit was deployed in the Soviet Union in 1941. He was sent to the western front at the end of the war and taken as prisoner by British forces in April 1945. He was released that August. Schmidt later said that, as a young soldier, he had recognized the Nazi regime’s lunacy but not its criminal nature at first. Schmidt entered West Germany’s parliament in 1953, where he earned the nickname “Schmidt the Lip,” a tribute to his sharp-tongued debating skills. He made his name back in his native Hamburg with his decisive 1962 management of severe flooding. As chancellor, Schmidt’s confidence served him well in facing down the homegrown terrorism of the Red Army Faction, which grew out of the leftist student movement in the 1960s.

In a 1977 campaign of violence that became known as the “German Autumn,” the group murdered, among others, West Germany’s chief federal prosecutor and the chief executive of Dresdner Bank. Schmidt stood firm, refusing to release jailed Red Army Faction leaders even after the group kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer, the head of the country’s industry federation. “The state must react with all the necessary toughness,” he declared. While Schleyer was being held in 1977, hijackers commandeered a Lufthansa plane to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to force the release of the Red Army Faction leaders. Schmidt ordered West German anti-terrorist commandos to storm the jet, successfully rescuing 86 hostages. Shortly afterward, three of the terrorist group’s leaders killed themselves in prison and Schleyer was found murdered. Schmidt later said “I was prepared to resign” if the Mogadishu operation had gone wrong. Although convinced he had taken the right action, he also conceded he felt guilty about Schleyer’s slaying.

It was not easy for Schmidt being between the world’s two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union, and his support for NATO’s 1979 “double track” deploy-and-negotiate move to counter the deployments of Soviet SS-20 missiles proved divisive at home. NATO gave the go-ahead for the modernization of its nuclear force in West Germany and elsewhere in western Europe by deploying cruise and Pershing 2 missiles while, at the same time, seeking a joint limitation of the nuclear buildup through negotiations with the Soviet Union. Backing the NATO policy helped estrange Schmidt from his own party. Missile deployment in West Germany was fiercely opposed by many younger, more left-wing Social Democrats, and in 1983, an upstart leftist rival, the Greens, entered parliament for the first time. Schmidt’s chancellorship ended with his ouster in a parliamentary vote in October 1982, when his party’s coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats, switched its allegiance to Helmut Kohl’s conservative Christian Democrats due to disputes over economic policy and the squabbling within Schmidt’s party. Schmidt did not run for chancellor again, citing health concerns.

He had been fitted with a heart pacemaker and also suffered from a thyroid condition. In August 2002, he underwent an emergency bypass operation after suffering a heart attack. Two years later, he had cataract surgery. After stepping down as a lawmaker in 1987, Schmidt devoted himself to working as co-publisher of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. Schmidt continued to weigh in on Germany’s political debates, rarely shying away from controversy – which gave him a reputation for plain speaking that won him favorable comparisons with other German politicians. “To this day, he ranks among the personalities in our nation who can give direction to their own country and are listened to internationally,” Hans-Dietrich Genscher, his former foreign minister, wrote on Schmidt’s 90th birthday in 2008. His lasting influence was underlined by the huge success of his 1987 memoir, “Menschen und Maechte” (“People and Powers”) – a best-seller for more than a year.

Schmidt argued in a 2002 book that Germany had brought in too many immigrants in an idealistic attempt to overcome its Nazi past, saying his countrymen were “for the most part xenophobic deep down.” In 2003, he drew criticism for complaining about the “whininess” of people in the former East Germany, an area that struggled economically for years after Germany’s 1990 reunification. “People complain about some things that they should not complain about,” he declared. Schmidt never abandoned his politically incorrect habit of chain-smoking. That earned him and his wife, Hannelore – better known as Loki – the honor of being parodied on German television as “Loki and Smoki.” In 2008, Hamburg prosecutors threw out an anti-smoking group’s complaint against the couple after they lit up in a theater, flouting a newly introduced smoking ban. Schmidt and Loki, the childhood sweetheart he married in 1942, had one daughter, Susanne. Their first child, a son named Helmut Walter, died in 1945 when he was only a few months old. Loki Schmidt died at age 91 in 2010.

Schmidt in 2012 introduced longtime acquaintance Ruth Loah, a former employee at Die Zeit, as his new partner. ––– Helmut Schmidt dies; West German chancellor was transformative leader - The Washington Post Helmut Schmidt dies; West German chancellor was transformative leader The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published. You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! Former U.S. President Gerald Ford (L) arrives on a private visit for talks with former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who welcomed him at Hamburg airport in 1985. (Ulli Michel/Reuters) By Michael Getler November 10, 2015 Helmut Schmidt, the former West German chancellor whose talent, determination and outspokenness helped complete the transformation of his country from a subdued and still recovering post-World War II ally into the leading political and economic power in Europe, died Nov. 10 at his home in Hamburg, Germany. He was 96. The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, of which Mr.

Schmidt was a co-publisher, announced the death. No cause was reported. Mr. Schmidt, a Social Democrat, was more conservative than his party. He governed what was then the Federal Republic of Germany for more than eight years — from May 1974, when an espionage scandal forced the resignation of Chancellor Willy Brandt, until the fall of 1982, when his governing coalition with the small Free Democrat Party (FDP) collapsed. He was succeeded as chancellor by the conservative opposition Christian Democrat Union’s Helmut Kohl. He was the fifth chancellor to lead the 60 million Germans in the western two-thirds of the country since 1949, when the Federal Republic was formed out of a demolished and divided Germany. About 16 million Germans lived under Communist rule in the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Although West Germany had three chancellors of global respect in its early years — Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig Erhard and Brandt — it was Mr. Schmidt who was widely seen as probably the most able, the one who personified West Germany’s transformation to a more assertive, self-assured and independent course.

West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, left, and Soviet Party leader Leonid Brezhnev stand behind chairs in the conference hall of the Kremlin in 1980. (AP) That assertiveness was on display especially when it came to relations with the administration of President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. These years were marked by more sharp policy disagreements and personal rancor, especially on Mr. Schmidt’s part, than one can recall until recently between a modern American president and a major ally. Mr. Schmidt came to office as perhaps the most well-prepared leader of the postwar world, and the timing seemed perfect. A defense minister and finance minister under Brandt, he led West Germany through the global recession that followed the 1973-1974 oil crisis better than other industrialized nations. He rallied all the European Common Market countries, except France, behind the United States in that crisis. But the chancellor was a complicated man; an impatient intellectual yet a dedicated pragmatist, what they call a “macher” in German, someone who gets things done but also gives off the sense that he knows best.

He earned that reputation first in his native port city of Hamburg in 1962, when, as interior minister, his actions were credited with saving many lives in a disastrous flood. Later, there would be another sobriquet, “Mr. Schmidt Schnauze,” or Mr. Schmidt the Lip, for often-stinging speeches, articles and comments that at times infuriated both left and right. The author of books on defense, politics and economic policy, he also played the piano well enough to record Mozart concertos. He was a serious smoker, the most celebrated of Germany’s 600,000 “schnupfers,” or snuff-takers, and also unable to resist colas and sticky buns. His health deteriorated while in office, and in 1981 he was fitted with a cardiac pacemaker. A family secret Inducted into the Hitler youth movement at 16 and the army in 1937, he served for eight years, fought for a while on the Russian front, was awarded an Iron Cross as an artillery officer and was eventually captured by the British in 1945.

He managed to keep secret a dangerous family fact during the Third Reich: His father was an illegitimate child, and his grandfather was Jewish. Mr. Schmidt was a Lutheran, but there was no outward sense that religion played a role in his life. Rather, he worshiped at the altar of “predictability” and “calculability,” as he put it, among nations and leaders. These were Mr. Schmidt’s yardsticks, and as he took the measure of the Carter administration, they fell short, in his view. 1 of 83 A look at those who have died this year. Caption A look at those who have died. From left, Swedish actress Anita Ekberg known for her role in “La Dolce Vita”; Star Trek icon Leonard Nimoy; Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown; legendary blues guitarist B.B. King; and football player and “Monday Night Football” sportscaster Frank Gifford. From left: Mario Torrisi/AP, CBS via Getty Images, Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images, Kathy Willens/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Mr.

Schmidt and West Germany in the mid-’70s were strongly pro-American. He had visited the United States dozens of times and felt he understood it. He spoke fluent English, “better than Kissinger,” some American diplomats joked, referring to President Richard M. Nixon’s German-born national security adviser, adding that they wished Mr. Schmidt could run for office in America. The United States had been West Germany’s protector for almost 30 years, but the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal had tarnished U.S. leadership. The Cold War was still hot. Dozens of Soviet and East German divisions were on or near West Germany’s borders. The Soviets had also begun deploying new mobile, medium-range, nuclear-tipped SS20 missiles that could reach West Germany and other NATO countries and, in Mr. Schmidt’s view, tip the balance of power against the West and shear Europe away from the alliance. The chancellor got off on the wrong foot even before Carter took office when he let it be known that he favored President Gerald R. Ford, the known and thus calculable quantity, over the unknown Carter in the 1976 election. Almost always polite and correct in official public statements, Mr.

Schmidt was often scathing in his private assessments and — surprisingly incautious for a head of government — allowed a fair number of people to hear them. Indeed, as Mr. Schmidt’s personal views became more widely known, they tended to legitimize a growing anti-American sentiment among some segments of West German opinion. Mr. Schmidt, a strong supporter of nuclear energy at home, objected when pressed to cancel West Germany’s 1975 agreement to sell civilian nuclear reactors to Brazil. He would rant about how the U.S. administration didn’t understand global economic policy and how it would intentionally “talk down” the dollar to improve the U.S. trade balance while damaging West Germany’s export-driven economy. He took a leading role in development of the European Monetary System, which, except for the British pound, tied major European currencies together as protection against wide dollar fluctuations. Reluctantly and virtually alone among Europe, West Germany went along with Carter’s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the invasion of Afghanistan. But Mr.

Schmidt felt Carter and his Polish-born national security adviser, Zbigniew Bzrezinski, did not consult about the implications of White House human rights policies toward the Soviet Union — specially on behalf of Soviet dissidents — that affected West Germany. Arms-control controversy Mr. Schmidt had a deep appreciation of arms-control issues and was the Western leader who most stressed the need for a new strategy and weapons to balance the growing threat from those Soviet SS20 missiles that could hit Europe but not the United States. The presence of the missiles raised many questions, including whether the United States, in theory, would trade Chicago for Hamburg if the Russians attacked only in Europe. It was a complex issue and produced great strains because of what Mr. Schmidt again felt, fairly or not, were poor consultations and lack of understanding. West Germany agreed to take new U.S. missiles, as long as other NATO allies took some as well. But it was unpopular with much of the West German public. When Carter said the United States would produce a new neutron bomb, Mr. Schmidt was reserved in public and has said he told Carter that his support would have been “steadfast.” But the notion of such a weapon was also extremely unpopular in the chancellor’s party.

Then Carter changed his mind. Mr. Schmidt’s positions on both these weapons programs, plus souring economic news at home and lingering health problems, contributed to a loss-of-confidence vote, the defection of the FDP and his eventual ouster. Mr. Schmidt continued Brandt’s “Ostpolitik” policy of reaching out to former enemies that were now communist neighbors in the East but was always an advocate of a strong defense and a balance of power. He grew impatient with others, not just Carter, and had, at times, sharp words for his British, French and Italian counterparts. On occasion, he spoke broadly about Europe’s common cultural identity, from the Atlantic to the Urals in Russia, another semi­public trend of thought that led some who heard him to believe that Mr. Schmidt was leaning too much toward the East, to the exclusion of the Americans, something that he vigorously denied. In Europe, he deepened relations with France especially. With his good friend French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, he was a founder of the World Economic Summits that began in 1975.

In 1979, what had been a traditional “big three” summit meeting of the United States, Britain and France on Guadeloupe became, for the first time, a “big four.” At home, he took an early hard-line stance against a wave of terrorism and kidnappings by the Red Army faction of the Baader-Meinhof gang in West Germany in the mid-1970s. His popularity and image of decisiveness soared in 1977 when he successfully used a West German hostage rescue team to storm a hijacked Lufthansa airliner in Somalia and rescue its passengers. Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt was born into a middle-class family in Hamburg on Dec. 23, 1918. His parents were teachers. His teenage years were shaped by the war, and it was on a leave in 1942 that he married a childhood friend, Hannelore “Loki” Glaser. Two smokers, chess players and lovers of art and music, they always lived modestly. She died in 2010.

They had two children, an infant son who died of meningitis in 1945 and a daughter, Susanne, who, like her father, is an economist. The former chancellor led an active life in retirement, most notably through his role at Die Zeit. In its pages and in his books, Mr. Schmidt continued to make his views known. Getler, a former Washington Post reporter, covered Central Europe for many years. world Helmut Schmidt, former West German chancellor and political firebrand, dead at 96 | Fox News Helmut Schmidt, former West German chancellor and political firebrand, dead at 96 Published November 10, 2015 Helmet Schmidt with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1982. (AP Photo/files) Helmut Schmidt with President Jimmy Carter in 1978. (AP-Photo/files) Helmut Schmidt in May 2015. (Christian Charisius/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images) Previous Next Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor who guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman, died Tuesday. He was 96.

German weekly Die Zeit, of which Schmidt was a co-publisher, confirmed in a statement that he died at his house in Hamburg Schmidt, a center-left Social Democrat, led West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was elected chancellor by lawmakers in May 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent. The new leader brought a sometimes abrasive self-confidence and his experience as West Germany's defense, finance and economy ministers to the job, which he took during the economic downturn that followed the 1973 oil crisis. Schmidt's chancellorship coincided with a tense period in the Cold War, including the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. He went along the following year with the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, although he later said that it "brought nothing." Schmidt later said he had disputes with the United States under President Jimmy Carter over financial and defense issues at the time and concluded "that we Germans could not afford an extra conflict with America," West Germany's protector against the Soviets.

Amid efforts to ward off a global recession, Schmidt was among the movers behind the first economic summit of leading industrial powers at Rambouillet, France, in 1975, which later turned into the annual Group of Seven meeting. He and then-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing also played leading roles organizing the European Monetary System, aimed at protecting European currencies from wild fluctuations, which ultimately paved the way for the common European currency, the euro. Born Dec. 23, 1918, the son of a half-Jewish school teacher in the northern city of Hamburg, Schmidt joined the Hitler Youth when his rowing team was included in the Nazi youth organization, but was suspended at age 17 -- "probably because my griping got on their nerves." Drafted as a soldier during World War II, Schmidt's unit was deployed in the Soviet Union in 1941. He was sent to the western front at the end of the war and taken as prisoner by British forces in April 1945. He was released that August. Schmidt later said that, as a young soldier, he had recognized the Nazi regime's lunacy but not its criminal nature at first.

Schmidt entered West Germany's parliament in 1953, where he earned the nickname "Schmidt the Lip," a tribute to his sharp-tongued debating skills. He made his name back in his native Hamburg with his decisive 1962 management of severe flooding. As chancellor, Schmidt's confidence served him well in facing down the homegrown terrorism of the Red Army Faction, which grew out of the leftist student movement in the 1960s. In a 1977 campaign of violence that became known as the "German Autumn," the group murdered, among others, West Germany's chief federal prosecutor and the chief executive of Dresdner Bank. Schmidt stood firm, refusing to release jailed Red Army Faction leaders even after the group kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer, the head of the country's industry federation. "The state must react with all the necessary toughness," he declared. While Schleyer was being held in 1977, hijackers commandeered a Lufthansa plane to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to force the release of the Red Army Faction leaders.

Schmidt ordered West German anti-terrorist commandos to storm the jet, successfully rescuing 86 hostages. Shortly afterward, three of the terrorist group's leaders killed themselves in prison and Schleyer was found murdered. Schmidt later said "I was prepared to resign" if the Mogadishu operation had gone wrong. Although convinced he had taken the right action, he also conceded he felt guilty about Schleyer's slaying. It was not easy for Schmidt being between the world's two superpowers -- the United States and the Soviet Union, and his support for NATO's 1979 "double track" deploy-and-negotiate move to counter the deployments of Soviet SS-20 missiles proved divisive at home. NATO gave the go-ahead for the modernization of its nuclear force in West Germany and elsewhere in western Europe by deploying cruise and Pershing 2 missiles while, at the same time, seeking a joint limitation of the nuclear buildup through negotiations with the Soviet Union. Backing the NATO policy helped estrange Schmidt from his own party.

Missile deployment in West Germany was fiercely opposed by many younger, more left-wing Social Democrats, and in 1983, an upstart leftist rival, the Greens, entered parliament for the first time. Schmidt's chancellorship ended with his ouster in a parliamentary vote in October 1982, when his party's coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats, switched its allegiance to Helmut Kohl's conservative Christian Democrats due to disputes over economic policy and the squabbling within Schmidt's party. Schmidt did not run for chancellor again, citing health concerns. He had been fitted with a heart pacemaker and also suffered from a thyroid condition. In August 2002, he underwent an emergency bypass operation after suffering a heart attack. Two years later, he had cataract surgery. After stepping down as a lawmaker in 1987, Schmidt devoted himself to working as co-publisher of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. Schmidt continued to weigh in on Germany's political debates, rarely shying away from controversy -- which gave him a reputation for plain speaking that won him favorable comparisons with other German politicians.

"To this day, he ranks among the personalities in our nation who can give direction to their own country and are listened to internationally," Hans-Dietrich Genscher, his former foreign minister, wrote on Schmidt's 90th birthday in 2008. His lasting influence was underlined by the huge success of his 1987 memoir, "Menschen und Maechte" ("People and Powers") -- a best-seller for more than a year. Schmidt argued in a 2002 book that Germany had brought in too many immigrants in an idealistic attempt to overcome its Nazi past, saying his countrymen were "for the most part xenophobic deep down." In 2003, he drew criticism for complaining about the "whininess" of people in the former East Germany, an area that struggled economically for years after Germany's 1990 reunification. "People complain about some things that they should not complain about," he declared. Schmidt never abandoned his politically incorrect habit of chain-smoking.

That earned him and his wife, Hannelore -- better known as Loki -- the honor of being parodied on German television as "Loki and Smoki." In 2008, Hamburg prosecutors threw out an anti-smoking group's complaint against the couple after they lit up in a theater, flouting a newly introduced smoking ban. Schmidt and Loki, the childhood sweetheart he married in 1942, had one daughter, Susanne. Their first child, a son named Helmut Walter, died in 1945 when he was only a few months old. Loki Schmidt died at age 91 in 2010. Schmidt in 2012 introduced longtime acquaintance Ruth Loah, a former employee at Die Zeit, as his new partner. Advertisement Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of West Germany, dies at 86 - The Portland Press Herald increase font size Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of West Germany, dies at 86 He led West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions and stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism.

By GEIR MOULSON The Associated Press Share Read Article BERLIN — Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor who guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism and became a respected elder statesman, died Tuesday. He was 96. Schmidt died at his house in Hamburg, according to German weekly Die Zeit, of which Schmidt was a co-publisher. Helmut Schmidt led West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He died Tuesday at age 86. The Associated Press Search photos available for purchase: Photo Store → “We have lost a sharp-witted adviser, a trusted companion and a good friend,” Die Zeit said in a statement. “Until recently he contributed to the editorial team with his analyses, his commentaries and his interviews about current affairs.” Schmidt’s friend and doctor Heiner Greten told Bild newspaper the former chancellor died with partner Ruth Loah and daughter Susanne at home with him. “He died the way he wanted: in his bed at home and fully without pain,” Greten said. Schmidt, a center-left Social Democrat, led West Germany from 1974 to 1982.

He was elected chancellor by lawmakers in May 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent. Share Helmut Schmidt, 96, assertive West German chancellor, dies | The Seattle Times Helmut Schmidt, 96, assertive West German chancellor, dies Originally published November 10, 2015 at 5:42 pm Updated November 10, 2015 at 6:48 pm Helmut Schmidt was the only public figure in Germany allowed to disregard smoking bans. (PETER POPP/EPA) Helmut Schmidt, the former West German chancellor who died Tuesday at 96, was for decades one of the country’s most popular politicians. Share story JONATHAN KANDELL The New York Times Helmut Schmidt, the former West German chancellor who marshaled personal dynamism, managerial brilliance and often acid-tongued impatience to push his country into an assertive international role as the Cold War dragged on into the 1970s, died Tuesday at his home in Hamburg. He was 96.

His death was confirmed by Teresa Maria Frei, spokeswoman for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, where Chancellor Schmidt was co-publisher. In a statement, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had visited Chancellor Schmidt at his home less than a year ago and praised him as “a political institution” and a source of “advice and judgment I valued.” Chancellor Schmidt, a Social Democrat, had not shied from criticizing policies put forth by her as leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union Party. Most Read Stories Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks. Chancellor Schmidt was for decades one of West Germany’s most popular politicians. With a firm jaw and intense gray eyes, he was handsome, witty and supremely self-possessed. In public he was a magnetic speaker and a pugnacious debater. (He was known as “Schmidt the Lip” early in his career.) Cultured and erudite, he was also an accomplished classical pianist and writer. As recently as 2013, in a poll by Stern magazine, he was ranked as Germany’s most significant chancellor.

“We Germans have lost a father figure,” said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, one of a generation of Social Democratic leaders formed by Chancellor Schmidt, Willy Brandt and the pursuit of detente with the Soviet bloc in the 1970s. Chancellor Schmidt’s life all but traced the history of 20th-century Germany. A son of working-class Hamburg, he was born in the wake of Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, witnessed the rise of the Nazis, joined the Hitler Youth, served in Hitler’s army — while hiding the fact that he had a Jewish grandfather — and emerged politically in a postwar Germany divided against itself. Chancellor Schmidt rode a difficult period as chancellor after being elected in 1974: The global economy was in turmoil, and tensions with the communist east had not slackened. Unlike his more accommodating predecessors, he openly jousted with the United States over global economics and relations with the Soviet Union. He barely concealed his disdain for President Carter, a novice in international affairs, and his wariness of a bellicose President Reagan.

At home, he compelled his left-leaning Social Democratic Party to embrace pro-business policies and to support the buildup of the West German armed forces into a bulwark of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. At the same time, he pressed the Federal Republic of Germany to forge closer ties with the Communist regime in East Germany. And working with his close friend President Valry Giscard d’Estaing of France, he helped soften European distrust of his country for its Nazi past — a past that to many of its survivors was still fresh in painful memory 30 years on. (Meanwhile, a cigarette smoker almost to the end of his life, he was the only public figure in Germany allowed to disregard smoking bans.) Chancellor Schmidt made grievous policy errors, which were compounded by his unwillingness to admit fallibility and his seeming disregard for diplomacy, with allies and foes alike. They were failings that led the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, to dismiss him after eight years in office. His detractors accused him of being overwilling to accommodate Moscow in his desire to salvage the notion, backed avidly by West Germany and France, that stronger economic and political ties with the Russians would entice them into a smoother relationship with the West.

Moreover, his intemperate criticism of Washington promoted neutralist, anti-American tendencies in the Social Democratic Party, which only helped undermine his chancellorship. Chancellor Schmidt was confident — too confident, some said — about his ability to sustain prosperity in West Germany. Under his stewardship, his nation fared better than the rest of Europe during the economic crisis of the 1970s, which was provoked by a sharp rise in petroleum prices controlled by OPEC, the cartel of major oil-exporting countries. But he was criticized in the early 1980s as having failed to prepare West Germans for a recession. Still, Chancellor Schmidt remained popular, owing in no small part to the affection West Germans felt for his down-to-earth wife, Hannelore Schmidt. A biologist and amateur botanist, she eschewed ceremony in favor of promoting conservation and protecting endangered plants. Flowers in Latin America and Africa were named after her, and she wrote or co-wrote books on plants and ecology. She died in 2010 at 91. Chancellor Schmidt might have been able to survive politically if he had antagonized opponents less.

But in the Bundestag he was resented for his attacks on legislators who disagreed with him. In 1982, a parliamentary majority voted him out of office by passing a no-confidence motion and replaced him with Helmut Kohl, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Party. It was the first time that the Bundestag had removed a German chancellor since the end of World War II. Even after his downfall, Chancellor Schmidt was unapologetic about his perceived arrogance. In a 1986 speech on his retirement from the Bundestag, he noted that unemployment had continued to climb under Kohl. Then, facing Kohl, he asserted that the real jobless rate “would be a little higher if you hadn’t manipulated the numbers a little downward.” Nearing retirement, Chancellor Schmidt spent much of his time in Hamburg, his native port city. He wrote a memoir and occasional articles in which he continued to defend his outspoken exchanges with U.S. presidents and politicians. “I have always regarded myself as a reliable friend of the United States, but never have I misunderstood an alliance to be a system of control and command,” he said in a 1984 interview with The New York Times.

“It’s rather a system of advice and consent, if I may borrow a phrase from your Constitution.” JONATHAN KANDELL

Question: Helmut Schmidt, who died in 2015, once led which nation?
Answer: West Germany