“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
Lord Acton
DONALD TRUMP GOES THERE ON IMMIGRATION:
[ Emphasis and {commentary} in red type by Abyssum ]
The first sign that Donald Trump was a real presidential candidate was his announced position on immigration.
He allied himself with an ignored portion of the electorate, the roughly one third of voters who believe that illegal immigrants ought to be deported, and embraced their message with verve. But what was notable about his policy at the time was that despite his vocal support for deportation, it wasn’t even included in the bullet points of his immigration paper, which sounded a Jeff Sessionsesque note without going all the way into round them up territory.
Trump, fading in the polls and frustrated by his lack of winning, is now embracing an immigration position that is arguably the same as Jeb Bush’s, and perhaps even softer than the Gang of Eight in some respects (though the vagueness allows for wiggle room). This position would be closer to the American median on the issue, but as a strategy, it seems like a great raised middle finger to his most loyal fans – none moreso than Ann Coulter, whose Breitbart-hosed book party last night for her latest tome, In Trump We Trust, was a mix of denialism and uncertainty.
The danger for immigration hawks is that Trump could end up undermining everything they believe in by 1) going soft on their key issue after championing it, 2) not losing the support of most of his biggest fans, and 3) still losing in November anyway. If those three things happen, expect the likelihood of a Clinton-McConnell comprehensive immigration reform package within the next two years to increase exponentially.
Heather Wilhelm. http://vlt.tc/2iy5 “I have to give credit to Ann Coulter: It takes some serious cojones to come out with a book titled “In Trump We Trust” at this point in 2016. The enthusiasm! The bright-eyed faith! The beaming cover photo, featuring Coulter grasping a cheery Trump sign! The subtitle—“E Pluribus Awesome!”—which, if you squint hard enough, could be a clever-yet-subtle indicator that this is all an elaborate joke!
“Sadly, there is nothing awesome about this election, e pluribus or not, and the problems with Coulter’s title choice are myriad. First, replacing “God” with “Trump” seems a bit premature, at least until he’s won the election and tells us all that this is the case. Second, conservatives—Coulter is supposedly one, I guess, if that’s still her favored brand—are supposed to be skeptical of politicians in general, not the political equivalent of the pom squad captain at Path to Power High.
“But, seriously: “In Trump We Trust?” Look, I understand if you want to vote for Donald Trump, but please don’t tell me he’s trustworthy. In the past year alone, he may have managed to shamelessly out-lie Hillary Clinton, which is a herculean feat. In fact, in a delightfully ironic twist, Trump appears to be breezily selling out his stances on Coulter’s favorite policy topics—those would be immigration and mass deportation—on the very week of her “In Trump We Trust” book release.
“I don’t care if @realDonaldTrump wants to perform abortions in the White House after this immigration policy paper,” Coulter tweeted last August, calling Trump’s immigration plan “the greatest political document since the Magna Carta.” At the time, due to my longtime understanding that Coulter is 85 percent ratings-and-book-sales-related shtick and 15 percent the amalgamated ghosts of old cigarettes, I shrugged and rolled my eyes.
“But wait, and be alarmed: It appears Coulter might actually believe her own bologna. In her new book—titled, I will remind you again, “In Trump We Trust”—Coulter praises Trump’s calls for mass deportation: “If some Republican wants to impress me by saying shocking things, do it on immigration,” she writes. She goes on to bash “Jeb!” (her exclamation point, not mine) for being “smug and self-righteous whenever it came to enforcing immigration law” and questioning the feasibility of carting out 12 million illegal immigrants.
“Drumroll, please. Maybe even pair it with the Benny Hill theme song “Yakety Sax.” Here’s where things get really awkward, because Trump has spent the last week—again, the week of Coulter’s book release!—signaling there’s no way he’s going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants, either. On Wednesday night, after days of announcing he is open to “softening” his immigration positions, Trump told Sean Hannity illegals would stay, but they’d “pay back taxes.” We’ll “work with them,” he said. Spoiler alert: This is not what Coulter’s new book said he would do.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
{ Pro-lifers please note that if you think for one minute that a man, Donald Trump, who has given donations to Planned Parenthood in the past will become pro-life as President, you are practicing the worse kind of self-deception. }
{ Pro-lifers please note that if you think for one minute that a man, Donald Trump, who has said, when asked who he would appoint to the United States Supreme, said “Maybe my sister; she would be a great Supreme Court Justice !” The problem is that his sister is a Federal District Judge in New York State with an extreme pro-abortion record. }
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hitler Runs for President
Just three weeks after the suicide of his beloved niece, Adolf Hitler met the 84-year-old President of Germany, Paul von Hindenburg, for the first time.
Hitler pulled himself out of the severe depression he fell into after her death. Twice before he had sunk into the abyss of despair, only to emerge stronger – in 1918, lying in a hospital, blinded by poison gas, after hearing news of the Germany’s defeat ending World War I – and in 1924, in prison after the failed Beer Hall Putsch.
In October 1931, the former Austrian Corporal was presented to the former Field Marshal. Hitler was a bit unnerved by the Old Gentleman and rambled on at length trying to impress him. Hindenburg was not impressed and later said Hitler might be suited for Postmaster, but never for a high position such as the Chancellorship of Germany.
October of 1931 marked the beginning of the political intrigue that would destroy the young republic and ultimately make Hitler Führer of Germany.
Below: A speech by candidate Hitler to a large crowd in Berlin’s Lustgarten in April 1932. Constant political squabbling among the numerous political parties in the Reichstag resulted in ineffective government.
Adding to the problem, there were now over a hundred elected Nazis in the Reichstag {Think, Congress}. Under the leadership of Hermann Göring, they regularly disrupted proceedings with vulgar, rowdy behavior to help undermine democracy in Germany.
The German people were desperate for relief from the tremendous personal suffering brought on by the Great Depression, now two years old. Millions were unemployed, thousands of small businesses had failed {Think, the United States in 2016}, homelessness and starvation were real possibilities for everyone.
Civilization itself was unraveling in Berlin where people were fighting in the streets, killing each other in the chaos {Think, Milwaukee, Detroit, Baltimore, etc.}.
But from their elected leaders, the people got nothing but indecision. In ever growing numbers they turned to the decisive man, Adolf Hitler, and his promises of a better future.
The republic now faced another problem. In 1932, there was supposed to be a presidential election, according to law. But Hindenburg, the glue holding the floundering democracy together, was getting too old and said he was not interested in running again.
Even if he could be convinced to run, he would be 92 by the time the seven-year term ended, with Hitler looming in the background the whole time. If he didn’t live the entire term, considered likely since he was failing, then Hitler would have his chance even sooner.
Early in 1932, Adolf Hitler received a telegram from Chancellor Bruening inviting him to come to Berlin to discuss the possibility of extending Hindenburg’s present term. Hitler was delighted at the invitation.
“Now I have them in my pocket! They have recognized me as a partner in their negotiations!” Hitler told Rudolf Hess.
He went to the meeting and listened to the proposal, but gave no response. There was no reason to help the chancellor and thus help keep the republic alive.
In February 1932, President Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to run again and announced his candidacy for re-election. Hitler decided to oppose him and run for the presidency himself.
“Freedom and Bread,” {Think, illegal immigration} was the slogan used by Hitler to great effect during the Nazi campaign against tired old President Hindenburg.
Joseph Goebbels waged a furious propaganda campaign on behalf of Hitler, outdoing the previous election effort of 1930. Nazi posters were plastered everywhere. There was a whirlwind schedule of speeches for himself and Hitler. The Nazis held thousands of rallies each day all across Germany. They gave out millions of pamphlets and extra copies of Nazi newspapers. Goebbels also used new technology {Think, social media like Twitter and Facebook}, making phonograph records and films of Hitler to distribute.
President Hindenburg essentially did nothing. He was content to ride on his reputation and counted on the votes of Germans who wanted to keep the radicals out of power. Goebbels had high hopes that Hitler might pull an upset and sweep into office. Hitler, however, had his doubts. He campaigned knowing he was unlikely to unseat the Old Gentleman. But the campaign was also an opportunity to win support for himself and his Party and extend Nazi influence.
Many in Germany saw the Nazis as the wave of the future. After the stunning success of the 1930 election, thousands of new members had poured into the Party. Now, in the spring of 1932, with six million unemployed, chaos in Berlin, starvation and ruin, the threat of Marxism, and a very uncertain future – they turned to Hitler {Think, Donald Trump} by the millions.
In the presidential election held on March 13, 1932, Hitler got over eleven million votes (11,339,446) or 30% of the total. Hindenburg got 18,651,497 votes or 49%.
Hindenburg failed to get the absolute majority he needed, making a run-off election necessary. Goebbels and many of the Nazi leaders were quite disappointed.
But Hitler immediately urged them to start a vigorous campaign for the run-off to be held on April 10, less than a month away.
In the campaign that followed, Hitler criss-crossed Germany in an airplane {Think, Trump in his private plane}, descending from the clouds into the arms of growing numbers of fanatics, at ever larger rallies. He gave them a positive message, promising something for everyone, then ascended back into the clouds. “In the Third Reich every German girl will find a husband!” Hitler once promised.
But like any politician, Hitler was subject to scandal {Think, Trump casinos in New Jersey, his serial adultery, his abuse of eminent domain, etc.}. A newspaper run by one of the opposition parties, the Social Democrats, somehow got hold of letters between SA Chief Ernst Röhm and a male doctor, concerning their mutual interest in men. Hitler knew Röhm was a homosexual and had ignored it for years because of Röhm’s usefulness to him.
The issue as far as Hitler was concerned was whether Röhm had abused any underage males. Nazi lawyer Hans Frank investigated this and assured Hitler he had found no evidence. Hitler was a little more at ease. Thus, Ernst Röhm, the battle scarred, aggressive storm trooper leader would stay, at least for now, as leader of the SA, now numbering over 400,000.
The campaign for president continued with the Nazis mounting another furious campaign effort with Hitler making several campaign stops a day. President Hindenburg did less than before and didn’t make a single speech, causing rumors about ill health.
On a dark, rainy Sunday, April 10, 1932, the people voted. They gave Hitler 13,418,547 or 36%, an increase of two million, and Hindenburg 19,359,983 or 53%, an increase of under a million.
The Old Gentleman, now 85, was elected by an absolute majority to another seven-year term. But no one was at ease. Hitler and the Nazis had shown massive popularity.
Berlin was now a swirling mess of fear, intrigue, rumors, and disorder. Out of that mess arose a man named Kurt von Schleicher, a highly ambitious Army officer, driven by the idea that he, not Hitler, might possibly rule Germany.
The German republic was now as unsteady as the teetering Old Gentleman leading it and up against Schleicher and Hitler, was soon to be buried.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Republic Collapses
Amid the swirling mess in Berlin of political intrigue, rumors, and disorder, the SA, the Nazi storm troopers, stood out as an ominous presence. In the spring of 1932, many in the German democratic government came to believe the Brownshirts were about to take over by force.
There were now over 400,000 storm troopers under the leadership of SA Chief Ernst Röhm. Many members of the SA considered themselves to be a true revolutionary army and were anxious to live up to that idea. Adolf Hitler had to rein them in from time to time so they wouldn’t upset his own carefully laid plans to undermine the republic.
Hitler knew he could not succeed as Führer of Germany without the support of existing institutions such as the German Army and the powerful German industrialists, both of whom kept a wary eye on the revolutionary SA.
In April of 1932, Heinrich Bruening, Chancellor of Germany, invoked Article 48 of the constitution and issued a decree banning the SA and SS all across Germany. The Nazis were outraged and wanted Hitler to fight the ban. But Hitler, always a step ahead of them all, knew better. He agreed, knowing the republic was on its last legs and that opportunity would soon come along for him.
That opportunity came in the form of Kurt von Schleicher, a scheming, ambitious Army officer who had ideas of leading Germany himself. But he made the mistake (that would prove fatal) of underestimating Hitler. Schleicher was acquainted with Hitler and had been the one who arraigned for Hitler to meet Hindenburg, a meeting that went poorly for Hitler.
On May 8, 1932, Schleicher held a secret meeting with Hitler and offered a proposal. The ban on the SA and SS would be lifted, the Reichstag dissolved and new elections called, and Chancellor Bruening would be dumped, if Hitler would support him in a conservative nationalist government. Hitler agreed.
Schleicher’s skillful treachery behind the scenes in Berlin first resulted in the humiliation and ousting of General Wilhelm Groener, a longtime trusted aide to President Hindenburg and friend of the republic. In the Reichstag, Groener, who supported the ban on the SA, took a severe public tongue lashing from Hermann Göring and was hooted and booed by Goebbels and the rest of the Nazis.
“We covered him with such catcalls that the whole house began to tremble and shake with laughter. In the end one could only have pity for him. That man is finished,” Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary in 1932.
Groener was pressured by Schleicher to resign. He appealed without success to Hindenburg and wound up resigning on May 13. Schleicher’s next target was Chancellor Bruening.
Heinrich Bruening was one of the last men in Germany who stood up to Hitler with the best interest of the people at heart. He was responsible for getting Hindenburg re-elected as president to keep out Hitler and preserve the republic. He was also hard at work on the international scene to help the German economy by seeking an end to war reparations. But his economic policies at home brought dismal results. As Germany’s economic situation got worse, with nearly six million unemployed, Bruening was labeled “The Hunger Chancellor.”
Bruening had also continued the dangerous precedent of ruling by decree. He invoked Article 48 of the German constitution several times to break the political stalemate in Berlin.
To Schleicher and Hitler, he was simply in the way and had to go. Schleicher went to work on him by undermining the support of Hindenburg. Bruening was already in trouble with Hindenburg, who blamed him for the political turmoil that had made it necessary to run for re-election at age 85 against the ‘Bohemian Corporal’ Adolf Hitler.
Bruening also made an error in proposing that the huge estates of bankrupt aristocrats be divided up and given to peasants, sounding like a Marxist {Think Hillary Clinton’s advocacy of increasing the Inheritance Tax}. Those same aristocrats, along with big industrialists {Think, big Wall Street banks, Hollywood, Silicon Valley}, had scraped together the money to buy Hindenburg an estate of his own. When Hindenburg took his Easter vacation there in mid-May, he had to listen to their complaints about Bruening. All the while, Schleicher was at work against Bruening as well.
On May 29, 1932, Hindenburg called in Bruening and told him to resign. The next day, Heinrich Bruening handed in his resignation, effectively ending democracy in Germany.
Schleicher was now in control. He chose as his puppet chancellor, an unknown socialite named Franz von Papen who had grave doubts about his own ability to function in such a high office. Hindenburg, however, took a liking to Papen and encouraged him to take the job.
The aristocratic Papen assembled a cabinet of men like himself. This ineffective cabinet of aristocrats and industrialists {Think, big Wall Stree banks, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, etc.}presided over a nation {Think, United States of America} that would soon be on the verge of anarchy.
When Adolf Hitler was asked by President Hindenburg if he would support Papen as chancellor, he said yes. On June 4th, the Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were called for the end of July. On June 15, the ban on the SA and SS was lifted. The secret promises made to the Nazis by Schleicher had been fulfilled.
Murder and violence soon erupted on a scale never before seen in Germany {Think, United States}. Roaming groups of Nazi Brownshirts walked the streets singing Nazi songs and looking for fights {Think, “Black Lives Matter” and other groups pushing violence}.
“Blut muss fliessen, Blut muss fliessen! Blut muss fliessen Knuppelhageldick! Haut’se doch zusammen, haut’se doch zusammen! Diese gotverdammte Juden Republik!” the Nazi storm troopers sang.
Ttranslation: “Blood must flow, blood must flow! Blood must flow as cudgel thick as hail! Let’s smash it up, let’s smash it up! That goddamned Jewish republic!”
The Nazis found many Communists in the streets wanting a fight and they began regularly shooting at each other. Hundreds of gun battles took place. On July 17, the Nazis under police escort brazenly marched into a Communist area near Hamburg in the state of Prussia. A big shoot-out occurred in which 19 people were killed and nearly 300 wounded. It came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Papen invoked Article 48 and proclaimed martial law in Berlin and also took over the government of the German state of Prussia by naming himself Reich Commissioner. Germany had taken a big step closer to authoritarian rule.
Hitler now decided that Papen was simply in the way and had to go.
“I regard your cabinet only as a temporary solution and will continue my efforts to make my Party the strongest in the country. The chancellorship will then devolve on me,” Hitler told Papen.
The July elections would provide that opportunity. The Nazis, sensing total victory, campaigned with fanatical energy. Hitler was now speaking to adoring German audiences of up to 100,000 at a time. The phenomenon of large scale ‘Führer worship’ had begun. On July 31st, the people voted and gave the Nazis 13,745,000 votes, 37% of the total, granting them 230 seats in the Reichstag. The Nazi Party was now the largest and most powerful in Germany.
On August 5th, Hitler presented his list of demands to Schleicher – the chancellorship; passage of an enabling act giving him control to rule by decree; three cabinet posts for Nazis; the creation of a propaganda ministry; control over the Ministry of the Interior; and control of Prussia. As for Schleicher, he would get the Ministry of Defense as a reward.
Schleicher listened, didn’t say yes or no, but would let him know later.
With gleeful anticipation, Hitler awaited Schleicher’s response and even ordered that a memorial tablet be made to mark the place where the historic meeting with Schleicher had occurred.
Meanwhile, the SA began massing in Berlin anticipating a takeover of power. But old President Hindenburg soon put an end to Hitler’s dreams. Hindenburg by now distrusted Hitler and would not have him as chancellor, especially after the behavior of the SA.
On August 13, Schleicher and Papen met with Hitler and gave him the bad news. The best they could offer was a compromise – vice chancellorship and the Prussian Ministry of the Interior.
A determined-looking Hermann Göring enters the Reichstag building in August 1932 – helping to stifle the democratic government for Hitler. Below: Hitler is cheered and saluted as he heads into a big meeting with President Hindenburg in November 1932. Hitler became hysterical. In a display of wild rage that stunned Schleicher and Papen, he spewed out threats of violence and murder, saying he would let loose the SA for three days of mayhem all across Germany.
Later that same day, Hitler was called on the carpet by President Hindenburg. The former Austrian Corporal got a tongue lashing from the former Field Marshal after once again demanding the chancellorship and refusing to cooperate with Papen and Schleicher.
In the presence of the steely-eyed old Prussian, Hitler backed down. The gamble for total victory had failed. He put the SA on a two week furlough and went to Berchtesgaden to lick his wounds. They would all have to wait, he told them. Just a little longer.
On September 12, the Reichstag under the new chairmanship of Hermann Göring gave a vote of no confidence to Papen and his government. But just before that vote was taken, Papen had slapped an order on Göring’s desk dissolving the Reichstag and calling yet again for new elections.
This was a problem. Everyone was getting tired of elections by now. Goebbels had a hard time getting the Nazi effort up to the same level of a few months earlier.
In the middle of the campaign, Hitler’s girlfriend Eva Braun shot herself in the neck during a suicide attempt. Hitler was still haunted by the suicide of his beloved niece a few years earlier. Eva Braun was deeply in love with Hitler but didn’t get the attention she craved. Hitler rushed to the hospital and resolved to look after her from that moment on.
This distraction served to slow down the already sluggish Nazi campaign. More problems came after Goebbels and a number of Nazis went along with the Communists in a wildcat strike of transport workers in Berlin, thus alienating a lot of middle class voters.
Bad publicity from siding with the Reds plus the bad publicity Hitler got after his meeting with Hindenburg combined to lose them votes. Adding to all this were the wild antics of the SA. On November 6th, the Nazis lost two million votes and thirty four seats in the Reichstag. It seemed the Nazis were losing momentum. Hitler became depressed.
But there was still no workable government in Berlin {Think, Washington, D.C.. Papen’s position as chancellor was badly weakened. And Schleicher was now at work behind the scenes to further undermine him. On November 17, Papen went to Hindenburg and told him he was unable to form any kind of working coalition, then resigned.
Two days later, Hitler requested a meeting with Hindenburg. Once again Hitler demanded to be made chancellor. Once again he was turned down. This time however, Hindenburg took a friendlier tone, asking Hitler, soldier to soldier, to meet him half way and cooperate with the other parties to form a working majority, in other words, a coalition government. Hitler said no.
On November 21st, Hitler saw Hindenburg again and tried a different approach. He read a prepared statement claiming that parliamentary government had failed and that only the Nazis could be counted on to stop the spread of Communism. He asked Hindenburg to make him the leader of a presidential cabinet. Hindenburg said no, and only repeated his own previous requests.
The Government of Germany had ground to a halt.
Meanwhile, a group of the country’s most influential industrialists, bankers, and business leaders {Think, Wall Street, big banks, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, et al }sent a petition to Hindenburg asking him to appoint Hitler as chancellor. They believed Hitler would be good for business.
Hindenburg was in a terrible bind. He called in Papen and Schleicher and asked them what to do. Papen came up with a wild idea. He would be chancellor again and rule only by decree, eliminate the Reichstag altogether, use the Army and police to suppress all political parties and forcibly amend the constitution. It would be a return to the days of Empire, with the conservative, aristocratic classes ruling.
Schleicher objected, much to Papen’s surprise. Schleicher said that he, not Papen, should head the government and promised Hindenburg he could get a working majority in the Reichstag by causing a rift among the Nazis. Schleicher said he could get Gregor Strasser and as many as 60 Nazi deputies to break from Hitler.
Hindenburg was dumbfounded and finally turned to Papen and asked him to go ahead and form his government. After Hindenburg left the room, Papen and Schleicher got into a huge shouting match.
At a cabinet meeting the next day, Schleicher told Papen that any attempt by him to form a new government would bring the country to chaos. He insisted that the Army would not go along and then produced a Major Ott who backed up his claims. Schleicher had been at work behind the scenes to sway the Army to his point of view. Papen was in big trouble.
He went running to Hindenburg, who, with tears rolling down his cheeks, told Papen there was no alternative at this point except to name Schleicher as the new chancellor.
“My dear Papen, you will not think much of me if I change my mind. But I am too old and have been through too much to accept the responsibility for a civil war. Our only hope is to let Schleicher try his luck,” President Hindenburg told Papen.
Thus Kurt von Schleicher became Chancellor of Germany on December 2, 1932. There now began an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes political intrigue and backstabbing that would put Hitler in power in only 57 days.
To begin with, Schleicher made good on his promise to try to split the Nazis. He held a secret meeting with Gregor Strasser, a Nazi who had been with Hitler from the start, and offered him the vice-chancellorship and control of Prussia.
To Strasser, the offer was quite appealing. The Nazi Party’s recent decline, losing millions of votes and now experiencing terrible financial problems, seemed to indicate that Hitler’s rigid tactics might not be the best thing for long-term success. Strasser had also acquired a distaste for the brutal men who now made up Hitler’s inner circle.
Through Papen, Hitler found out what was going on. On December 5th, Strasser and his infuriated Führer met, along with other Nazi leaders, in a Berlin hotel. Strasser insisted that Hitler and the Nazis cooperate or at least tolerate the Schleicher government. Göring and Goebbels opposed him. Hitler sided with them against Strasser.
Two days later, Strasser and Hitler met again and wound up getting into a huge shouting match. Strasser accused Hitler of leading the Party to ruin. Hitler accused Strasser of stabbing him in the back.
The following day, Strasser wrote a letter to Hitler, resigning all of his duties as a member of the Nazi Party. Hitler and the Nazi leaders were stunned. One of the founding members and most influential leaders had abandoned them. The Nazi Party seemed to be unraveling. Hitler became depressed, even threatening to shoot himself with a pistol.
Strasser headed for a vacation in Italy.
.
“Whatever happens, mark what I say. From now on Germany is in the hands of an Austrian, who is a congenital liar (Hitler), a former officer who is a pervert (Röhm), and a clubfoot (Goebbels). And I tell you the last is the worst of them all. This is Satan in human form,” declared Gregor Strasser in 1932.
As for Hermann Göring:
“Göring is a brutal egotist who cares nothing for Germany as long as he becomes something.”
Regarding Strasser, Goebbels wrote in his diary: “Strasser is a dead man.”
Hitler assigned his trusted aid, Rudolf Hess, to take over Strasser’s duties. Over the Christmas season, Hitler became quite depressed over the failing fortunes of his Party.
And it seemed to many political observers that the danger of a Hitler dictatorship had passed.
But the new year brought new intrigue. The big bankers and industrialists who had petitioned Hindenburg on behalf of Hitler still liked the idea of Hitler in power. And Papen was now out to bring down Schleicher. On January 4, 1933, Hitler went to a meeting with Papen at the house of banker Kurt von Schroeder. Papen surprised Hitler by offering to oust Schleicher and install a Papen-Hitler government with himself and Hitler, both equal partners.
Hitler liked the idea of ousting Schleicher but insisted that he would have to be the real head of government. He would, however, be willing to work with Papen and his ministers. Papen gave in and agreed.
When Schleicher found out, he went running to Hindenburg, charging Papen with treachery. But Hindenburg had a soft spot for Papen and would not go along.
Schleicher’s position was already badly weakened. He was unable to get the government moving because nobody trusted him enough to join him in a working coalition. The German government remained at a standstill with the people and Hindenburg getting more impatient by the day. Something had to be done. Hindenburg authorized Papen to continue negotiating with Hitler, but to keep it secret from Schleicher.
In the small German state of Lippe, local elections were scheduled for January 15. Hitler and the Nazis took this opportunity to make a big impression. They saturated the place with propaganda and campaigned heavily, hoping to win big and prove they had regained momentum.
They received a small increase in votes over their previous election total. But they used their own widely circulated Nazi newspapers {Think, The New York Times, The Washington Pose, et al }to exaggerate the significance and to once again lay claim that Hitler and the Nazis were the wave of the future. It worked well and even impressed President Hindenburg.
On Sunday, January 22, 1933, a secret meeting was held at the home of Joachim von Ribbentrop. It was attended by Papen, Hindenburg’s son Oskar, along with Hitler and Göring. Hitler grabbed Oskar and brought him into a private room and worked on him for an hour to convince him that the Nazis had to be taken into the government on his terms. Oskar emerged from the meeting convinced it was inevitable. The Nazis were to be taken in. Papen then pledged his loyalty to Hitler.
Next, Schleicher went to Hindenburg with a proposal – declare a state of emergency to control the Nazis, dissolve the Reichstag, and suspend elections. Hindenburg said no.
But word of this proposal leaked out, bringing Schleicher the wrath of the liberal and centrist parties. Schleicher then backed down, bringing him the wrath of anti-Nazi conservatives. His position was hopeless.
On January 28th, he went to Hindenburg and asked him once again to dissolve the Reichstag. Hindenburg said no. Schleicher resigned.
Papen and the president’s son, Oskar, moved in on the Old Gentleman to convince him to appoint a Hitler-Papen government. Hindenburg was now a tired old man weary of all the intrigue. He seemed ready to give in. Hitler sensed his weakness and issued an additional demand that four important cabinet posts be given to Nazis.
This did not set well with the old man and he started having doubts about Hitler as chancellor. He was reassured when Hitler promised that Papen would get one of those four posts.
On the 29th, a false rumor circulated that Schleicher was about to arrest Hindenburg and stage a military takeover of the government. When Hindenburg heard of this, it ended his hesitation. He decided to appoint Adolf Hitler as the next Chancellor of Germany.
However, a last minute objection by conservative leader, Alfred Hugenberg, nearly ruined everything. On January 30, while President Hindenburg waited in the other room to give Hitler the chancellorship, Hugenberg held up everything by arguing with the Nazis over Hitler’s demand for new elections. He was persuaded by Hitler to back down, or at least let Hindenburg decide. With that settled they all headed into the president’s office.
Around noon on January 30, 1933, a new chapter in German history began as a teary-eyed Adolf Hitler emerged from the presidential palace as Chancellor of the German Nation. Surrounded by admirers, he got into his car and was driven down the street lined with cheering citizens.
“We’ve done it! We’ve done it!” a jubilant Adolf Hitler exclaimed.
Copyright © 1996 The History Place™ All Rights Reserve
{In the next 12 years (1933-1945) twenty million people died in Europe and around the world in Hitler’s Final Solution of purging the world of “subhuman” persons (Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, Catholic Priests, et al) and in World War II which Hitler started in 1939.}
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
I just can’t vote for Trump and forget Hillary — she is so against life Thanks for having the courage to speak out months ago regarding these two candidates. What do you think of McMullin he is against abortion and for a conservative has some compassion for immigration wish it was more — https://www.evanmcmullin.com/grassroots/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=t.co&utm_campaign=20160901_EMC-SinU-grassroots-3_twitter&utm_content=EMC http://thefederalist.com/2016/08/24/even-if-he-wins-states-evan-mcmullin-wont-make-hillary-win/