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.
