159. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1
Mr. President:
These two [less than 1 line of source text not declassified]reports on German politics give a pretty clear picture of what Erhard is up against.2
- 1.
- Both Strauss and Barzel are out to remove him, soon or late.
- 2.
- Strauss is trying to push Erhard and Schroeder into a Moscow trip in which they will fail. He then would like to see Germany look to “Europe”—which means France, essentially—for greater nuclear status.
- 3.
- Barzel, on the other hand, looks to inflaming the German unity issue and using Erhard’s inability to make progress as a way of forcing him out. He, too, looks to a reduction in U.S.-German relations and an intensification of Germany’s relations with the French.
All such reports tend to present a somewhat unbalanced view of a politician’s position. In my view, neither Strauss nor Barzel would, in fact, radically reduce the U.S.-German connection. But they do suggest the rise of assertive nationalism in Germany already evident in the way they are handling the offset issue.
These reports should also be read against the background of rising strength in the Social Democratic opposition to the Erhard coalition.
We shall, of course, take readings on Erhard’s political position closer to the time of his visit. These reports are an interim picture of the kind of trouble he has in his own political family.