Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer was a German, and later Westphalian, politician. He was born January 5, 1876 into a devout Catholic family in Cologne, and was admitted in 1894 to the University of Freiburg, where he studied politics and law. A Christian democrat, Adenauer was elected Mayor of Cologne in 1917 and served until 1933, when the Nazi Party came to power in Germany and dismissed him of his position. Evading Nazi persecution, Adenauer kept a low profile for most of the Nazi era.

Westphalian Political Career
When the Republic of Westphalia was declared in 1946, Adenauer reemerged as a politician and founded the Christian Democratic Party. By 1950, he had been elected the Mayor of Bonn, and was seen as a likely candidate for that year's presidential election. Sensing this threat to his power, Westphalian President Erich von Manstein postponed the elections until 1952. On June 6, 1950, Manstein was assassinated by Jewish terrorists, and the new President, Reinhard Gehlen, had Adenauer monitored by the Internal Police, despite his lack of involvement with terrorism.

Gehlen would further postpone the elections until 1956. When they were finally held, they were partially rigged in favor of Gehlen's German Liberty Party; even with the meddling, however, Adenauer's party managed to capture 40% of the popular vote and and nearly one-third of the seats in the Westphalian Congress, while the aging Adenauer won a respectable proportion of the presidential vote.

Later Life
Chester A. Arthur does not specify Adenauer's fate after the elections of 1956, but it is likely he died soon thereafter given his advanced age. No further elections are specifically mentioned, but Gehlen was still President at his death in 1967, implying that any further attempts by Adenauer to win high office had failed.

Mentions
Adenauer is mentioned in Pts. 44, 51, and 74 of For All Time.