Horst Köhler

Horst Köhler
President of Germany
In office 1 July 2004 – 31 May 2010
Chancellor	Gerhard Schröder Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Johannes Rau
Succeeded by	Christian Wulff
8th Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
In office 1 May 2000 – 4 March 2004
Preceded by	Michel Camdessus
Succeeded by	Rodrigo Rato
Personal details
Born	(1943-02-22) 22 February 1943 (age 74) Heidenstein, General Government (now Skierbieszów, Poland)
Political party	Christian Democratic Union
Spouse(s)	Eva Bohnet
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Tübingen
Profession	Economist
Religion	Lutheranism
Signature

Horst Köhler (German: [ˈhɔɐ̯st ˈkøːlɐ]; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union, and served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on 23 May 2004 and was subsequently inaugurated on 1 July 2004. He was reelected to a second term on 23 May 2009. Just a year later, on 31 May 2010, he resigned from his office in a controversy over his comment on the role of the German Bundeswehr in light of a visit to the troops in Afghanistan.

Köhler is an economist by profession. Prior to his election as President, Köhler had a distinguished career in politics and the civil service and as a banking executive. He was President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1998 to 2000 and head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2000 to 2004.

Because the office of President is less influential than that of the Chancellor and is mostly concerned with ceremonial matters, Köhler was a highly popular politician during his tenure. He called for more influence for the President and suggested the President should be directly elected (both in line with the constitution of the Weimar Republic).

...
Wikipedia