Editing Walter Scheel (section)

==Political career==
{{more citations needed|section|date=February 2017}}
When his [[Free Democratic Party of Germany|Free Democratic Party]] reentered government in a coalition with [[Konrad Adenauer]]'s [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] in 1961, Scheel was appointed federal minister of economic cooperation and development. He continued in that office under Chancellor [[Ludwig Erhard]] but brought about the downfall of the latter in late 1966 by resigning.

A Christian Democratic/[[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic]] Grand Coalition followed. During this time, in 1968, Scheel took over the party presidency from right wing liberal [[Erich Mende]]. According to one study, the election of Walter Scheel to the FDP leadership in 1968 “represented a turn to the left and the Free Democrats then indicated their wooing of the SPD by voting for the successful Social Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Gustav Heinemann, in 1969.”<ref>{{cite book|last1=Childs|first1=David|last2=Johnson|first2=Jeffrey|title=West Germany, politics and society|date=1981|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-86300-5}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2016}}

In 1969, he led his party to form a new coalition with the Social Democrats. Under Chancellor [[Willy Brandt]], Scheel became [[Foreign Minister of Germany|Foreign Minister]] and [[Vice-Chancellor of Germany|Vice Chancellor]]. Under their leadership, West Germany pursued a course of rapprochement and détente with the Soviet bloc and officially recognized the existence of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). This policy caused a massive public debate, with various Free and Social Democrats switching sides to the opposition. Though an attempt to oust Brandt failed, the coalition had lost its slender majority. The parliamentary stalemate was ended by the dissolution of parliament and early elections in 1972, which brought great gains for the Social Democrats and enabled the coalition to continue.

On 7 May 1974, Brandt resigned as [[Chancellor of Germany|chancellor]] after one of his aides, [[Günter Guillaume]], was arrested as a spy for the East German state. Though this had been internally suspected since 1973, Brandt accepted responsibility and resigned. Scheel, as acting chancellor, chaired the government meetings for a little over a week, until [[Helmut Schmidt]] was elected.<ref>{{cite news|title=16. Mai 2004 - Vor 30 Jahren: Helmut Schmidt wird zum Bundeskanzler gewählt|url=https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag174.html|access-date=24 August 2016|work=WDR|language=de}}</ref> One of his first official acts as acting Chancellor was the award of the war blind radio play prize to Alfred Behrens on 8 May 1974. On 14 May, he chaired the cabinet meeting once.<ref>[https://www.br.de/mediathek/podcast/kanzlercast/bonus-walter-scheel-der-10-tage-kanzler/1836054/ Walter Scheel - Der 10-Tage-Kanzler] In: ''BR Podcast'', 26 October 2021.</ref> [[Hans Dietrich Genscher]] became Scheel's successor as party chairman and as minister.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Scheel Carter.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Scheel with U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]], 1978]]
Scheel was elected [[President of Germany|President of West Germany]], a week after relinquishing his other government roles. He held the office from July 1974 until June 1979. At the funeral of [[Hanns Martin Schleyer]] in October 1977, Scheel gave a speech entitled ''shame''. After the federal presidency, Scheel was Chairman of the [[Bilderberg Conference]] as well as President of the [[European Movement]] in Germany from 1980 to 1985. From 1980 to 1989 he was also President of the German section of the [[Union of European Federalists (UEF)]]. He was named honorary chairman of the [[Friedrich Naumann Foundation]] in 1991.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}