Bridge Builder: An Insider's Perspective of Over 60 Years in Post-War Reconstruction, International Diplomacy, and German-American Relations

by Walther Leisler Kiep

Overview

Walther Leisler Kiep is one of the most independent and influential German post-war politicians. He is also a successful entrepreneur and longtime chairman of Atlantik-Brücke, the influential German-American friendship organization, which he now serves as honorary chairman. In his autobiography, Kiep speaks frankly about a life at the center of power: as an independent politician and treasurer of the governing CDU party from 1970 to 1991, who did not shrink from conflict with party leaders Helmut Kohl and Franz Josef Strauss; as Minister of Finance in Lower Saxony; as a longtime member of the Volkswagen Supervisory board for 21 years; and as an ambassador for German-American relations, and confidant of several US presidents. As well as presenting an inside history of the relationship between Germany and the United States, the book sheds particular light on the struggle for German unification and that country's complex relationship with the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557536204
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	02/15/2012
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Walther Leisler Kiep is Honorary Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke, the private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that aims to develop strong relationships between Germany and the United States. He was treasurer of the CDU party in Germany from 1970 to 1991, and he has held a number of other important posts in German politics and served on many company boards in Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: A Long Road to Politics
Chapter 2: In Politics
Chapter 3: In the Opposition
Chapter 4: Ostpolitik
Chapter 5: Special Missions
Chapter 6: Business, Politics, and Personalities
Chapter 7: My Bridge across the Atlantic
Epilogue: America In Me
Name Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

"One of Germany's most distinguished statesmen, Dr. Walther Leisler Kiep has come to personify the commitment of postwar German leaders to close German-American relations. It was a distinct pleasure for me to collaborate with Walther, and I deeply valued his wise counsel. Through his ongoing passionate and persistent contributions as a leading foreign policy voice in Germany and as longtime chairman of Atlantik-Bruecke, Dr. Kiep has played an extraordinary role in building trust and mutual understanding between our two countries. His memoir is an invaluable addition to our understanding of international diplomacy." —Lee H. Hamilton, former Congressman and Co-Chair of the 9/11 Commission, former Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and presently Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University

From the Publisher