Wolfgang Gerhardt (born 31 December 1943) is a German politician and was the leader of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) from 1995 until he was succeeded by Guido Westerwelle in 2001.^[1]

Quick Facts Leader of the Opposition, Chancellor ...

Wolfgang Gerhardt
Leader of the Opposition
In office 22 November 2005 – 1 May 2006
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Angela Merkel
Succeeded by	Guido Westerwelle
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office 5 October 1998 – 1 May 2006
Preceded by	Hermann Otto Solms
Succeeded by	Guido Westerwelle
Leader of the Free Democratic Party
In office 10 June 1995 – 4 May 2001
Deputy	Cornielia Schmatz-Jacobsen Jürgen Bohn Rainer Brüderle Cornelia Pieper Walter Döring
Preceded by	Klaus Kinkel
Succeeded by	Guido Westerwelle
Deputy Leader of the Free Democratic Party
In office 23 February 1985 – 10 June 1995
Leader	Martin Bangemann Otto Graf Lambsdorff Klaus Kinkel
Preceded by	Jürgen Morlok
Succeeded by	Rainer Brüderle
Deputy Minister President of Hesse
In office 24 April 1987 – 5 April 1991
Minister President	Walter Wallmann
Preceded by	Hans Krollmann
Succeeded by	Joschka Fischer
Representative of Hesse to the Federation
In office 24 April 1987 – 5 April 1991
Minister President	Walter Wallmann
Preceded by	Willi Görlach
Succeeded by	Ulrike Rieder
Hessian Minister of Science and Art
In office 24 April 1987 – 5 April 1991
Minister President	Walter Wallmann
Preceded by	Vera Rüdiger
Succeeded by	Evelies Mayer
Member of the Bundestag for Hesse
In office 16 October 1994 – 22 September 2013
Constituency	Free Democratic List
Personal details
Born	(1943-12-31) 31 December 1943 (age 80) Ulrichstein, Germany
Political party	German: Free Democratic Party  EU: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

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Gerhardt was born in Ulrichstein. He was a member of the Member of the Landtag of Hesse from 1978 until 1994. Between 1987 and 1991, he served as State Minister for Science and Culture and Deputy Minister-President in the state government of Minister-President Walter Wallmann of Hesse. In this capacity, he was one of the state's representatives on the Bundesrat.

From 2002 until 2012, Gerhardt was Vice President of Liberal International (LI), under the leadership of successive presidents Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (2002–2005), John Alderdice (2005–2009), and Hans van Baalen (2009–2011).

Ahead of the 2005 national elections, Gerhard was billed as a possible foreign minister in a new centre-right coalition with the Christian Democrats; instead, newly elected Chancellor Angela Merkel entered a coalition with the Social Democratic Party.^[2] Gerhardt was succeeded as chairman of the FDP parliamentary group by Westerwelle in 2006. Between 2006 and 2013, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Since 2006, Gerhardt has been serving as chairman of the board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Gerhardt is married and has two children.^{[citation needed]}