Friedrich Merz: A German Life
For sixteen years, as Angela Merkel governed Germany, Friedrich Merz was her shadow: the rival she had vanquished, the great 'what if' of conservative politics who retreated from Berlin to the lucrative world of corporate law. This biography traces the long and winding path of the man who returned from the political wilderness to claim the office he had long coveted. It opens on the floor of the Bundestag in May 2025, with a moment of high drama and historic humiliation, as Merz, the chancellor-in-waiting, fails to secure a majority on the first ballot-a fittingly turbulent start for a political career defined by struggle, defeat, and relentless ambition.
The narrative delves into the great personal and political drama of recent German history: the rivalry between Merz, the sharp-tongued lawyer from the party's pro-business wing, and Merkel, the cautious physicist from the East. It chronicles his rise as a formidable opposition leader, the bitter power struggle that saw him sidelined, and his subsequent decade-long self-exile. In the boardrooms of international finance, most notably as chairman of BlackRock Germany, Merz became a multi-millionaire, burnishing his credentials as an economic expert while opening himself up to accusations of being a detached member of the global elite, a man more comfortable in a private jet than a town hall.
The story of his return is one of relentless determination, chronicling three grueling campaigns for the CDU party chairmanship. Denied twice by the party establishment, his moment finally arrived after the CDU's historic electoral defeat in 2021. The book explores the platform that finally carried him to power: a promise of a clean break from the Merkel era, a return to conservative clarity, and a focus on economic competence, fiscal responsibility, stricter migration controls, and a hawkish, unapologetically transatlanticist foreign policy.
From securing the chancellorship candidacy to navigating a fractious snap election, the biography details Merz's final ascent to power and the immense challenges that awaited him. It examines his formation of an uneasy coalition with the rival SPD, his first decisive acts on domestic and foreign policy, and his complex, high-wire approach to the far-right AfD-the party he once famously promised to "halve." It is the definitive account of a politician who waited, worked, and fought for his second chance, offering a deep understanding of the man who now leads Germany through a new era of global tension and internal transformation.
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