ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on leadership and legacy of Helmut Kohl. It outlines Kohl's record, both in the politics of his time and in a more lasting legacy his impact on Germany. When Kohl first became chancellor in late 1982, not even ardent supporters imagined that he would still hold the office more than 15 years later. Kohl also bound the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) so tightly to his government that it limited their autonomy, complicating Liberal struggles for an independent image. As William Paterson emphasises, Kohl's true dream was broader: gaining political consciousness amid the ruins of war gave him an unshakeable belief in a need to contain nationalism within an over-arching sense of common European values. Kohl's support for European unity proved even more pivotal. All his predecessors had favoured Bonn-Paris relations, but he gave that tandem special attention and despite periodic spats it propelled integration.
