Rudolf Scharping

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Rudolf Scharping
Federal Minister of Defence
In office 27 October 1998 – 18 July 2002
President	Roman Herzog Johannes Rau
Chancellor	Gerhard Schröder
Preceded by	Volker Rühe
Succeeded by	Peter Struck
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office 10 November 1994 – 26 October 1998
Preceded by	Hans-Ulrich Klose
Succeeded by	Peter Struck
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 25 June 1993 – 18 November 1995
Preceded by	Björn Engholm
Succeeded by	Oskar Lafontaine
Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate
In office 21 May 1991 – 15 October 1994
Deputy	Rainer Brüderle
Preceded by	Carl-Ludwig Wagner
Succeeded by	Kurt Beck
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in Rhineland-Palatinate
In office 1985–1993
Preceded by	Hugo Brandt
Succeeded by	Kurt Beck
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate
In office 19 June 1985 – 21 May 1991
Preceded by	Hugo Brandt
Succeeded by	Kurt Beck
Member of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate
In office 10 November 1994 – 18 October 2005
Member of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate
In office 1975–1994
Personal details
Born	Rudolf Albert Scharping (1947-12-02) 2 December 1947 (age 76) Niederelbert, Germany
Political party	Social Democratic Party (1966–present)
Alma mater	University of Bonn

Rudolf Albert Scharping (born 2 December 1947) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

He first rose to prominence as Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1991–1994). He was his party's federal chairman from 1993 to 1995 and in 1994 ran an, ultimately unsuccessful, effort to oust Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the federal elections. In 1998, he became Defence Minister in the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder but resigned shortly before the 2002 elections.

From March 1995 to May 2001, he served as chairman of the Party of European Socialists (PES).