From Pen-Pusher to Chancellor Candidate: Frank-Walter Steinmeier's Reluctant Path into the Spotlight

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Like Schröder and Fischer, whose SPD-Green coalition government he managed to hold together for a long time, Steinmeier is a typical product of the old West Germany. In the summer of 1968, while students were taking to the streets in Germany's major cities, Steinmeier was living in the village of Brakelsiek in North Rhine-Westphalia, where he was born. He was 12 years old at the time.

After finishing high school in the north-central region of Lippe, Steinmeier briefly considered studying architecture. But then he decided to attend law school in the western German city of Giessen, a safer choice in every respect. He spent 14 years living in a shared apartment in Giessen, eventually writing his dissertation, snappily titled "Tradition and Prospects of Government Intervention to Prevent and Eliminate Homelessness."

He flirted with the life of an academic. Perhaps he would still be sitting in a comfortable professor's office in Giessen today if his friend Brigitte Zypries, who is now Germany's justice minister, hadn't convinced him to move to Hanover -- the realm of Gerhard Schröder -- at the age of 35. To this day, Steinmeier is the first to admit that his friends once characterized him as someone who was reluctant to "venture out into the hostile territory of real life."

It was long an apt description of his approach to life. Even today there are those who wonder whether so much power should rest in the hands of a man who never aspired to it.

Showing His Tough Side

The most important decision on Steinmeier's path to the candidacy for the chancellorship was made by someone else, Gerhard Schröder, who saw to it that Steinmeier was named foreign minister in the fall of 2005. For Steinmeier, the move into the Foreign Ministry was the first phase of a transition from civil servant to politician. His thoughtful, even-keeled personality was perfectly suited for the diplomatic service. He became popular, as foreign ministers invariably do. This popularity was the strongest argument in favor of his candidacy for the position of chancellor.

The second-most important decision was the question of the candidacy itself. At a time when the media was already certain that he would run for chancellor, Steinmeier was still agonizing over the decision. When he was finally convinced, he was anxious to avoid being seen as subordinate to then-SPD Chairman Kurt Beck. To assert his independence, he coerced the beleaguered Beck into accepting his archenemy Müntefering as campaign chairman and let it be known that he was determined to secure the party's nomination as chancellor candidate. Even though Steinmeier could not have expected Beck's fall from grace, he tacitly accepted it. During this phase, Steinmeier demonstrated his tough side for the first time.

After he had secured the party's official nomination, Steinmeier allowed a considerable amount of time to pass before actively taking on his new role. For a long time, he seemed more interested in serving as foreign minister than as the SPD candidate, before eventually acquiring the necessary confidence and demonstrating the first tentative signs of aggressiveness.

Sparks of Passion

At the end of this long process, Steinmeier stands in front of 7,000 people on Munich's Marienplatz square and says: "Good evening, Munich." He is smiling, and it almost seems as if he has been looking forward to the campaign appearance. It is Wednesday of last week, with only 11 days to go before the election.

Anyone who witnessed his first stabs at addressing voters earlier this year will hardly recognize the candidate today. He speaks in short, comprehensible sentences. He makes his hands into his fists and slams them against the lectern, almost as if he were itching for a fight. It's true that Steinmeier is still no Schröder, but he is finally emitting the first sparks of something that might be called passion.

He has come a long way on his path from civil servant to the SPD candidate for Germany's highest political office, and he has learned a lot in the campaign. At times, he even comes across as a real chancellor candidate.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a man who needs time. Like John Franklin, the sea captain in his favorite book, he moves at his own speed. But a single election campaign is probably far too short.

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• Part 1: Frank-Walter Steinmeier's Reluctant Path into the Spotlight
• Part 2: A Satisfied Bureaucrat
• Part 3: Steinmeier's Trial by Fire
• Part 4: Slim Hopes of Becoming Chancellor
• Part 5: A Product of the Old Germany