Franz Josef Strauss

Franz Josef Strauss
Strauss in 1982
Minister-President of Bavaria
In office 6 November 1978 – 3 October 1988
Deputy	Karl Hillermeier Max Streibl
Preceded by	Alfons Goppel
Succeeded by	Max Streibl
Leader of the Christian Social Union
In office 18 March 1961 – 3 October 1988
General Secretary	Friedrich Zimmermann Anton Jaumann Max Streibl Gerold Tandler Edmund Stoiber Otto Wiesheu
Preceded by	Hanns Seidel
Succeeded by	Theo Waigel
Federal Cabinet Minister of Finance In office 2 December 1966 – 22 October 1969 Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger Preceded by Kurt Schmücker Succeeded by Alex Möller Minister of Defence In office 16 October 1956 – 16 December 1962 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer Preceded by Theodor Blank Succeeded by Kai-Uwe von Hassel Minister for Atomic Affairs In office 20 October 1955 – 16 October 1956 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Siegfried Balke Minister for Special Affairs In office 6 October 1953 – 12 October 1955 Serving with Heinrich Krone, Robert Tillmanns, Hermann Schäfer Chancellor Konrad Adenauer Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Heinrich Krone (1961)
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Landtag of Bavaria for Upper Bavaria In office 30 October 1978 – 3 October 1988 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Hans Koller Member of the Bundestag for Weilheim In office 7 September 1949 – 29 November 1978 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Heinrich Reichold Member of the European Parliament for West Germany In office 1952–1956 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by multi-member district
Personal details
Born	Franz Josef Strauß (1915-09-06)6 September 1915 Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire (now Bavaria, Germany)
Died	3 October 1988(1988-10-03) (aged 73) Regensburg, Bavaria, West Germany
Political party	Christian Social Union (1946–1988)
Spouse	Marianne Zwicknagl ​ ​ (m. 1957; died 1984)​
Children	3, including Monika
Alma mater	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Occupation	Politician Teacher Civil Servant
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Franz Josef Strauss (German: Strauß [fʁants ˈjoːzɛf ˈʃtʁaʊs]; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between 1953 and 1969 and minister-president of the state of Bavaria from 1978 until 1988. Strauss is also credited as a co-founder of European aerospace conglomerate Airbus.

After the 1969 federal elections, West Germany's CDU/CSU alliance found itself out of power for the first time since the founding of the Federal Republic. At this time, Strauss became more identified with the regional politics of Bavaria. While he ran for the chancellorship as the candidate of the CDU/CSU in 1980, for the rest of his life Strauss never again held federal office. From 1978 until his death in 1988, he was the head of the Bavarian government. His last two decades were marked by a fierce rivalry with CDU chairman Helmut Kohl.^[1]