FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS MAKES HIS BID - Gene H Hogberg - September 1979

Gene H Hogberg

West Germany's "man for emergencies" is in the running for the chancellorship next year. His campaign against Helmut Schmidt, says London's Daily Telegraph, promises to be a "titanic duel." "I hope the German people will never be in such bad shape that they think they have to elect me federal chancellor." Bavaria's number - one political figure made that oft-quoted statement to the West German news magazine Der Spiegel in May 1971. "Good times" are still here for West Germany, at least in comparison with the sluggish economies of the rest of the free world. But perhaps Franz Josef Strauss, described by Newsweek magazine as "without doubt the strongest single political talent in Germany," senses something that his countrymen are not yet aware of - that rough days are just around the corner, and that his "hour" is about to arrive. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library