Scheel, Walter
1919 - .
Political leader
of the Federal Republic of Germany.

A political leader of the Federal Republic of Germany, Walter Scheel,  b. Solingen, July 8, 1919, was president from 1974 to 1979. In 1953,  Scheel entered the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, as a member  of the Free Democratic party. He became his party's chairman in 1968,  and the next year he helped to form a coalition between the Free Democrats  and the Social Democratic party. This fusion resulted in a majority of  votes for the coalition's leader, Willy Brandt, under whose chancellorship  Scheel served as foreign minister and vice- chancellor. He was succeeded as  president by Karl Carstens.