Schmidt settles into Europe's strongest political position
The campaign had been marred by smears and name-calling; the election aftermath was marked by recriminations and a few gloomy second thoughts. "We suffered a heavy defeat," acknowledged Helmut Kohl, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (C.D.U.). "The results are disappointing," said Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, deputy chairman of the winning Social Democratic Party (S.P.D.). But not, clearly, to Wischnewski's boss, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Three days after the election he strode briskly to his chancellery office, and in an impatient, business-as-usual manner, presided over a meeting of his newly...
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