gold plated, rare German Token, size of a silver dollar
Helmut
Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈʃmɪt] (About
this soundlisten); 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German
politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD),
who served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany) from 1974 to 1982.
Before becoming Chancellor, he had
served as Minister of Defence (1969–1972) and as Minister of Finance
(1972–1974). In the latter role he gained credit for his financial
policies. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as
acting Foreign Minister. As Chancellor, he focused on international
affairs, seeking “political unification of Europe in partnership with
the United States” and issuing proposals that led to the NATO
Double-Track Decision in 1979 to deploy US Pershing II missiles to
Europe.[1] He was an energetic diplomat who sought European co-operation
and international economic co-ordination and was the leading force in
creating the European Monetary System in 1978. He was re-elected
chancellor in 1976 and 1980, but his coalition fell apart in 1982 with
the switch by his coalition allies, the Free Democratic Party.
He
retired from Parliament in 1986, after clashing with the SPD’s left
wing, who opposed him on defence and economic issues. In 1986 he was a
leading proponent of European monetary union and a European Central
Bank.