Helmut Kohl
Chancellor of Germany · 1930–2017
Kohl was a Christian Democrat who served as chancellor from 1982 to 1998, the longest in modern Germany. He oversaw German reunification in 1990 and was a driving force behind the Maastricht Treaty and the euro.
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Estimated from their documented words and actions. A simplification, not a verdict.
Supported German federalism and extended the federal state structure to the new eastern Länder.
Won four federal elections, though he later admitted to accepting illegal party donations.
Supported conventional law-and-order policies without major changes to civil liberties.
Promoted European integration, the Maastricht Treaty and the single currency.
Allowed NATO deployment of U.S. missiles in 1983 and kept Germany in NATO after reunification.
Insisted Germany was not a country of immigration and supported the 1993 asylum restriction.
Called for a moral-intellectual turn away from the expanded welfare state.
Favoured market economics but ran large state transfers to rebuild the east.
Backed the European single market and free trade.
A Catholic who led a party rooted in Christian democracy.
Emphasised traditional family and national values.
No strong recorded view on technology.