Georg Leber (7 October 1920 – 21 August 2012)^[1] was a German Trades Union leader and a politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

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Quick Facts Federal Minister of Defence (West Germany), Chancellor ...

Georg Leber
Leber in 1974
Federal Minister of Defence (West Germany)
In office 7 July 1972 – 1 February 1978
Chancellor	Willy Brandt Helmut Schmidt
Preceded by	Helmut Schmidt
Succeeded by	Hans Apel
Federal Minister of Transport (West Germany)
In office 1 December 1966 – 7 July 1972
Chancellor	Kurt Georg Kiesinger Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Hans-Christoph Seebohm
Succeeded by	Lauritz Lauritzen
Federal Minister of Post and Communications (West Germany)
In office 21 October 1969 – 7 July 1972
Chancellor	Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Werner Dollinger
Succeeded by	Lauritz Lauritzen
Vice President of the Bundestag (West Germany)
In office 12 September 1979 – 29 March 1983
President	Richard Stücklen
Member of the German Bundestag
In office 15 October 1957 – 29 March 1983
Personal details
Born	(1920-10-07)7 October 1920 Obertiefenbach (Beselich), Germany
Died	21 August 2012(2012-08-21) (aged 91)
Political party	Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Military service
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch/service	Luftwaffe
Battles/wars	World War II

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Leber was born in Obertiefenbach (Beselich). After serving in the Luftwaffe (the German air force) in World War II, he joined the SPD in 1947. In 1957, he was elected to the Bundestag, which he was a member of until 1983, representing Frankfurt am Main I.

In 1966, Leber was appointed minister for transportation for the grand coalition. He kept this position and became minister for postal service and long-distance communication under the joint SPD-FDP administration. In 1972, he gave up both positions and became minister of defence.^[2] Under his ministership the Bundeswehr was expanded and the Universities of the Bundeswehr were founded in Munich and Hamburg. In 1978, he left his position after a controversy in the defense ministry involving eavesdropping.^[3] From 1979 until 1983 he was the Deputy Speaker of the Bundestag.^[4]

Leber quit politics in 1986, and with his wife retired to the Bavarian countryside.^[4] From 1990 to 1993, he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung.^[5]

Leber died in his hometown of Schönau on 21 August 2012.^[4][6]