Konrad Adenauer to a central position in Europe, presiding over the German Economic Miracle. He was a driving force behind West Germany becoming the first German state to re-establish a national military (the "Bundeswehr") in 1955. He came to terms with France, which made possible the economic unification of Western Europe. Adenauer opposed rival East Germany and made his nation a member of NATO and a firm ally of the United States. Adenauer, who was Chancellor until age 87, was dubbed "Der Alte" ("the elder"). British politician and historian Roy Jenkins says he was "the oldest statesman ever to function in elected
Vice-Chancellor of Germany in any other way. It is the President who asks the Vice Chancellor to fulfill the Chancellor's duties until the Bundestag elects a new Chancellor. This has happened only once: Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for nine days in May 1974 between Chancellor Willy Brandt’s resignation and Helmut Schmidt’s election. The office was initially established by the 1878 "Stellvertretungsgesetz" (Deputation Act), which provided for the Imperial Chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as "Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers" (General Deputy to the Imperial Chancellor). In addition to the general deputy, who would be responsible for all the affairs of