Franz Josef Strauss

Who was Franz Josef Strauss?

Franz Josef Strauss was a German politician. He was the chairman of the Christian Social Union, member of the federal cabinet in different positions and long-time minister-president of the state of Bavaria.

During his political career Strauss was a controversial figure. In 1945 he was translator and right hand to First Lieutnant in the American military secret service CIC, Ernest F. Hauser. As a younger man, he served in several positions in the federal cabinet, and had some brushes with scandal during this time: the Spiegel scandal after Strauss had the editor-in-chief of a news magazine jailed for 103 days under false pretenses, as well as the Lockheed bribery scandals after a Lockheed lobbyist stated that the corporation had bribed Strauss to the tune of $10 million to obtain a defence contract for the F-104G Starfighters in 1961.

After the 1969 federal elections, West Germany's conservative alliance found itself out of power for the first time since the founding of the Federal Republic. At this time, Strauss became more identified with the regional politics of Bavaria.