Konrad Adenauer, first Chancellor of West Germany, 1876-1967

During his years in power, West Germany achieved democracy, stability, international respect and economic prosperity ("Wirtschaftswunder", German for "economic miracle"). Adenauer displayed a strong dedication to a broad vision of market-based liberal democracy and anti-communism. Adenauer was, as British politician and historian Roy Jenkins says, "the oldest statesman ever to function in elected office". A devout Roman Catholic and member of the Catholic Centre Party, he was a leading politician in the Weimar Republic, serving as Mayor of Cologne (1917–1933) and as president of the Prussian State Council (1922–1933).