Rise of an American-Style Politician

Shortly after the Social Democratic Party suffered a serious setback in a Hamburg state by-election last March, Helmut Schmidt, 55, went on television and bluntly accused his boss, Willy Brandt, of weak leadership and laxity. That kind of pugnacity long ago earned West Germany's new Chancellor-nominate the nickname "Schmidt-Schnauze" (Schmidt the Lip). Friends and enemies alike describe him as an "American-style" politician, in reference to his rough-and-tumble skill as an infighter. Certainly no one has ever accused him of indecision or timidity-- or of hiding his ambition to take over Brandt's job.

The son of a Hamburg schoolteacher, Schmidt joined the Hitler Youth when the Nazis came to power in 1933 and later served as an artillery battery commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II until he was captured by the British. After the war, he studied economics at the University of Hamurg, where he was a star pupil of Karl Schiller, who later served as Brandt's first Finance Minister. Schmidt entered politics while still a student and became leader of the German Socialist Student Union, precursor of today's vociferous, left-wing Young Socialists (Jusos). He won a seat in the Bundestag on the Social Democratic ticket in 1953, and 14 years later became the party's parliamentary floor leader. In 1968 he stepped up to the party's vice chairmanship under Brandt.

After the Social Democrats won the 1969 election, Brandt chose Schmidt --who would have preferred to be Foreign Minister--as his defense chief. In that thankless job, Schmidt modernized the West German arsenal and shook up the creaky officer corps, earning high marks from NATO leaders. One top American diplomat in Bonn called him "the best German Defense Minister since the war." He raised military morale and attracted volunteers by improving barracks life and allowing them to sport Beatle-length hair. To traditionalists' complaints that he was turning the Bundeswehr into the "German hair force," Schmidt asserted: "I couldn't care less whether long or short hair grows on the scalp. I'm only interested in what's inside the skull."

In 1972 Schmidt succeeded his former mentor Schiller as Finance Minister and tackled Germany's major economic problem: inflation, now running at 7.8% a year. A staunch proponent of a free market, Schmidt relied on tight-money policies rather than wage and price controls, an approach that has helped earn him the enmity of the Jusos, who make up about 25% of his own party. Last week Juso Chairman Heidi Wieczorek-Zeul called Schmidt "the worst possible choice" as Brandt's successor. Schmidt has also recently been at odds with the S.P.D.'s coalition partners, the Free Democrats. He favors a little more inflation rather than more unemployment, while the Free Democrats want tighter measures to control inflation even if that means a little more unemployment. Despite his reputation as a political toe-treader, Schmidt has long been rated in public opinion polls as the most popular Social Democrat in Brandt's Cabinet.

Hot Temper. Schmidt is regarded as less of a European visionary than Brandt, but he does believe in economic integration, and many Eurocrats consider him less narrowly nationalistic than top policymakers in London and Paris. Schmidt's elevation to Chancellor is welcomed by Washington because of his record as an advocate of a strong Atlantic Alliance. He has said that "West European unification cannot and must not be achieved in opposition to the U.S." Observers in Bonn expect Schmidt to place less emphasis on Ostpolitik than Brandt did. He will probably be tougher with the Communists in granting generous credits and trade concessions.

Schmidt has been hospitalized at least three times in the past two years for a chronic thyroid condition that tends to aggravate his hot temper and sharp tongue. However, he has apparently recovered his health sufficiently to sail and throw the javelin at his lakeside weekend house in Schleswig-Holstein. During the week he lives with his wife Hannelore in a Bonn apartment, where he often relaxes after 18-hour work days by listening to Baroque harpsichord and organ music. He is also an avid chess player. Two summers ago he and his wife spent several evenings replaying the games of Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky at the world championship in Iceland. Invariably, Schmidt played the game of the aggressive American challenger.

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