Wolfgang Schäuble - 5
"Wie geht's? Wie steht's?" A German figure of speech, a way of greeting another person. I had seldom heard it used in Germany up until then. November 1995. But that was Dr. Schäuble's greeting when I arrived at the Lufthansa gate at Frankfurt Airport, for the flight to Washington. He was born in 1942. Perhaps it was a greeting typical for his generation.
He was happy to see me. And me him. He introduced me to his wife. She asked about her husband as a student. I think my response was: "Naja, Ihr Mann ist etwas denkfaul. Wir machen aber weiter. Ich kriege das hin mit him."
They both laughed, because the man was famous back then, and for almost thirty years thereafter, for not only having a razor-sharp mind, but also for being extremely hard-working, even more so after the assassination attempt on his life just a few weeks after German Unification in October 1990, which had left him paralyzed from the chest down.
The visit to Washington and to Chicago had a similar kind of itinerary as with Michael Glos in March of that year. Meetings on the Hill. Senate. House. Roundtables at think tanks. Brookings and, I cannot remember, AEI or Heritage. The speech at Georgetown. An elegant dinner in the new German Embassy on Resevoir Road.
The meeting on the House side of the Hill. Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Democrat. With his advisors next to him. And a dozen or so staffers from different offices packed into the room. The Chairman read from notes. Almost no give and take with Wolfgang Schäuble. Did they not realize who they had as their guest, I thought? A bore for Schäuble. And for me.
The dinner in the German Embassy. We enter a large and generous and elegant reception space with one or two rooms (salons) to the side for small-group conversations. After a little while I peer into the one. Schäuble. Admiral Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor under George H.W. Bush. And several other very well-known movers and shakers in the American foreign and security arena.
All huddled around Dr. Schäuble in his wheelchair. Serious looks on their faces. Focused. Discussing quietly. Remember, Schäuble was the second-most influential political leader in Germany, behind Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Schäuble had also masterminded the technical and political unification of the two Germanies. And, he was considered to be the most likely successor to Kohl.
Then dinner. A very long table. With all sorts of guests. Many of them prominent Americans. Politics. Academia. A few journalists. Thought leaders these folks would be called today. Schäuble sat at the middle. The German ambassador directly across from him. Then in order of importance prominent guests outward from those two.
And John Otto Magee way, way, way at the one end of the table. A nobody. End of table reserved for such people. Left and right of me, if I can recall properly, a university professor and a journalist, neither of whom had the slightest interest in speaking a word with me or even acknowledging my presence. I felt very out of place, a bit embarrassed, and more than uncomfortable. What was I doing there? An imposter. A tinge of shame. More on this inclination of mine, not to understand fully the Verhältnisse, in a separate post.
Back at the Watergate Hotel after one of the days in DC, not after the dinner, our group was in the lounge. Dr. Schäuble. His Büroleiter, aka top assistant. Dolph. And myself. Beer. Wine. Smalltalk after a long day. Then the head of the Adenauer Stiftung joined us.
Stiftung. Foundation. Kind of like a think tank. Financed via federal taxes. So that the political parties can develop their policies, and run events in different countries. Important work. These folks are very capable. Christian Democrats, Adenauer Stiftung. Social Democrats, Ebert Stiftung. Free Democrats, Naumann Stiftung. Greens, Böll-Stiftung.
I cannot recall the name of the guy running the Adenauer Stiftung in Washington. Nor would I cite it if I could. Apparently, a woman employee at the Stiftung had resigned under some kind of protest just a few months before. The case was under internal investigation.
After some small talk, and then his description of the current political situation in Washington, and in the U.S. in general, the guy made a comment about the influence of the Jewish community in American politics. Suddenly, Dr. Schäuble reached down with both hands, one on each side of his wheelchair, released the brakes, and rolled out of the circle of chairs with serious swiftness. No way I was going to ask him at some later time about his reaction.
The second evening in the lounge at the Watergate Hotel. In comes a colleague of Dr. Schäuble. A CDU Member of Parliament. Head of the CDU Working Group on commerce, trade, economics.
Two things surprised me. Neither of them two knew that the other was in Washington at the same time. Poor internal communication. The second surprise were this guy's statement (my translation): "Wolfgang, my meetings, unbelievable! The Americans are very impressively informed about developments in Germany and in the EU!"
I sat there listening and thought: "What's this guy surpised by? Does he think Americans in government are bunch of dopes?" This was, and is, just one of hundreds of examples of how I believe the Germans underestimate the Americans. Put another way, how they overestimate themselves. If I recall accurately, I voiced that thought of mine to Wolfgang Schäuble.
Breakfast in the Watergate Hotel. Very large room. I'm at the table with Dr. Schäuble. I notice about twenty-five yards away Senator Bob Dole with Colin Powell. Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, had an apartment in the Watergate. It was November 1995. Clinton-Gore were in the White House and doing well. Dole, the Majority Leader in the Senate, was the likely frontrunner for the Republican nomination. November 1996 elections in the U.S.
I signaled to Dr. Schäuble that he should glance over his shoulder to the left. He took notice than asked me if I thought Powell would make a run for the Republican nomination. I thought for a second or two then said: "No. He is loyal to George Bush. Does not want to get in the way of his son, Governor of Texas, running in 2000." Schäuble nodded.
That day or the next day we flew to Chicago. A speech to the World Affairs Council. A lunch with a former Republican governor of Illinois, after which a roundtable. Schäuble asked the former governor if he thought Colin Powell will run for the presidency. "No" was the response. Schäuble leaned over, looked at me, and smiled. I guess my gut instinct was good. That time at least.
Schäuble's speech in Chicago went well. I had stayed up late the night before making some revisions. Based on how it had gone at Georgetown.
During my March trip with Glos, and during this November visit with Schäuble, there were moments when I was still, reflecting. "What is going on here. I'm an American. Here with very high-level Germans. In my country. Helping them to understand America and Americans. But on their side of the table, so to speak."
Those were moments. Brief. Stillness. Depth. Centered. But brief. Perhaps too much for me. To process. To understand. To internalize. How could I? How could anyone? I was in the flow. Everything went naturally. The interactions. The preparations.
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John Otto Magee helps Germans and Americans to better understand each other. So that their collaboration succeeds. See UC at www.understand-culture.com