biography
pronunciation:
[shroeder]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1944– )
|
| biography:
| German statesman and chancellor (1998– ), born in Mossenberg, S Germany. He undertook a commercial apprenticeship before working towards a law degree on a part-time basis, studying at Göttingen. His working-class background led him to the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), and in 1978–80 he was a member of Bundesvorstand der Jungsozialisten (Juso; Young Social Democrats). He entered the Bundestag as a member for Hanover (1980–6). He returned to state politics to head the Social Democratic Party (SDP) group in the Lower Saxony parliament in 1986, becoming state prime minister in 1990, gaining an absolute majority in 1994 without the support of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Alliance 90/Greens). He returned to the Bundestag in 1998, and defeated Helmut Kohl to be elected chancellor by that body in the same year, with the support of both his own party and the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. In 1999 he was elected national chairman of the SDP. He was re-elected chancellor for a second term in 2002. |
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