ABSTRACT
Hans von Seeckt had for a time toyed with the idea of offering himself as a candidate for the Presidency, and had even instructed Kurt von Schleicher to prepare his campaign. Colonel von Hindenburg had been a brother officer of Schleicher in the Guards. Schleicher wanted first to take the bull by the horns and issue a flat denial of everything. Both Schleicher and Hammerstein-Equord held the view that the problem of the masses would continue to remain insoluble to them unless they sought to gain touch directly with the workers. Yet while Schleicher showed occasional vacillation in this admirable attitude, Hammerstein-Equord, to the horror of many of his brother officers, set his course boldly toward the left and sought to make contact with a number of leading Social Democrats. Schleicher had had dealings with Bruning in discussions over the estimates, and had been genuinely impressed by his patent honesty and excellent political instinct.
