BERLIN • Long-serving politicians frequently miss the right moment to leave the political stage.
Germany's first post-war chancellor Konrad Adenauer, widely acclaimed for overseeing his country's reconstruction, led the country for 14 years from 1949 to 1963. Yet, he retired in diminished circumstances - his Christian Democratic Union (CDU)-Christian Social Union coalition, having done badly in the Bundestag polls, was in need of a coalition partner. The Free Democrats agreed. Their price: that Mr Adenauer step down as chancellor half way through his term.
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