German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had wanted to tell US President John F. Kennedy about his pet political project in a face-to-face meeting, and the date had already been set. In the end, though, the head of the West German government was only able to pay his last respects to the West's most powerful man. Only a few feet divided Erhard on Nov. 25, 1963 at Arlington Cemetery from the casket of the murdered president and his mourning wife.
For the time being, the arduous efforts that had been made only weeks earlier by the diplomatic ground troops at the United States Embassy in the West German capital of Bonn and in Washington would remain unspoken at the highest levels of government -- namely the intention of Germany to seek to buy its unity back from the Soviet Union that is detailed in formerly classified documents recently made available in Washington.
The spectacular plot some 50 years ago, was largely unknown in Germany. Here, Erhard, a heavy-set, cigar-smoking man, is best regarded for the work he did as a minister under former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Erhard was considered the father of the German economic miracle, which saw the country's fortunes rise dramatically in the postwar period during the 1950s.
But newly released and reviewed documents from the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department suggest that Erhard, whose term as chancellor between 1963 and 1966 was rather unremarkable, actually had far more ambitious plans as Germany's leader. The Americans had been made privy to the planned deal as potential mediators between the West Germans and the Soviets.
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