In his memoirs, US President Bill Clinton called former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl “the largest figure on the continent of Europe in decades.” What made Kohl special was a clear vision for the future of his country, and the ambition and tenacity to realize it.
HAMBURG – With Helmut Kohl’s death, “the largest figure on the continent of Europe for decades,” as Bill Clinton described the former German chancellor, has left us. Kohl possessed most of the talents of a successful politician: ambition, ruthlessness, tenacity, tactical skills, and a sense for the minds of ordinary people. In contrast to his two predecessors, Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, he had no charisma (which Brandt had in abundance) or gift for words. What he did have, in contrast to his successors, was a clear vision for the future of his country. It was this that enabled Kohl to achieve the previously unimaginable: Germany’s reunification within a united Europe.
HAMBURG – With Helmut Kohl’s death, “the largest figure on the continent of Europe for decades,” as Bill Clinton described the former German chancellor, has left us. Kohl possessed most of the talents of a successful politician: ambition, ruthlessness, tenacity, tactical skills, and a sense for the minds of ordinary people. In contrast to his two predecessors, Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, he had no charisma (which Brandt had in abundance) or gift for words. What he did have, in contrast to his successors, was a clear vision for the future of his country. It was this that enabled Kohl to achieve the previously unimaginable: Germany’s reunification within a united Europe.