Analysis: Brought low by his desire for one-upmanship

HE WAS once the poster boy for the German right; smooth, well versed in platitudes, good at cutting ribbons and patting babies on the head – perfect material, in fact, to be president of the nation.

Christian Wulff slipped effortlessly into his role. With his glamorous wife he moved into the ornate Bellvue Palace in Berlin where he was expected to meet and greet visiting dignitaries and perform other harmless tasks.

But Mr Wulff possessed something previous holders of the office didn’t: a need for luxury, for a one-upmanship above the ordinary citizens he was meant to represent.

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Prussian Germans – Mr Wulff has Prussian roots – are historically expected to embrace public service and hard work and are not supposed to be dazzled by the glittering prizes. But he was – and how. A dodgy, undeclared mortgage loan; airline upgrades; discounted cars; luxury holidays paid for by rich friends. He had it all.

But for once the German media – intimidated by power for most of the time – pursued Mr Wulff with vigour.

News magazine Der Spiegel took up a gauntlet laid down by popular newspaper Bild, the publication which Wulff initially threatened with “war” if it ever published details of the dodgy loan.

“The scandal lies in the accumulation of details,” said Der Spiegel. “All of the revelations come together to form a picture, a picture of a character that revolves around three concepts: perks, upgrades and self-abasement. These concepts run counter to what is expected of a politician in a democracy. They especially run counter to what is expected of a German president.”

Mr Wulff did what German politicians always tend to do: cling on to office and hope it will all go away. But the press wouldn’t allow it. And now he has had to stand down.

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