Rudolf Albert Scharping was born on 2 December 1947 and is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party.
20 Facts About Rudolf Scharping
2.
Rudolf Scharping was from 1991 to 1994 the 6th Minister President of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and from 1998 to 2002 Federal Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
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From 1993 to 1995, Scharping was the national chairman of the SPD.
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Rudolf Scharping studied politics, sociology and law at the University of Bonn.
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Rudolf Scharping joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1966.
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Rudolf Scharping was of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1975 to 1994.
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From 1993 to 1995, Rudolf Scharping was chairman of the SPD, succeeding Bjorn Engholm.
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Rudolf Scharping made social justice the centerpiece of his campaign.
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Rudolf Scharping eventually lost and became leader of the opposition; his successor for the role as Minister-President was Kurt Beck.
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Rudolf Scharping was later defeated by Oskar Lafontaine as SPD chairman in an upset vote at the federal party convent at Mannheim.
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From 27 October 1998 to 18 July 2002, Rudolf Scharping served as Germany's Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
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Rudolf Scharping defended the German involvement with the Hufeisenplan, which later turned out to have likely been a hoax.
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In 1999, Rudolf Scharping established a government-appointed independent commission headed by former President Richard von Weizsacker to develop recommendations on the reform of the Bundeswehr.
14.
In what was later called Majorca Affair, Rudolf Scharping had his picture taken in the swimming pool in company of his girlfriend Kristina Countess Pilati while the Bundeswehr was about to begin a difficult mission in Republic of Macedonia.
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Rudolf Scharping subsequently faced an investigation in parliament in over claims that he improperly used military planes to visit Pilati in Majorca and in Frankfurt.
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Rudolf Scharping kept his Bundestag seat but did not run again in the 2005 elections.
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In 2001, Scharping was criticized publicly by Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld when he was found to be the source of a report that the United States would intervene in Somalia as part of the campaign against terrorism.
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Since leaving politics, Rudolf Scharping established his own company with a focus on business development in China.
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Rudolf Scharping is a passionate cyclist; in 2005, he became the chairman of the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer.
20.
Rudolf Scharping is a Senior Network Member at the European Leadership Network.