Helmut Schmidt, who was the sure hand at the wheel for West Germany through eight years of the peril of the Cold War, died on Tuesday in his hometown of Hamburg. He was 96. Those close to him said Schmidt had an infection that he caught after he had surgery to remove a blood clot two months ago.

Schmidt had always preached a unified Germany and he served as the West German Chancellor from 1974-1982. Schmidt came in the middle of the turbulent Cold War and replaced the former chancellor whose closest assistant was found to be a spy for the Russian-backed and Communist East Germany. The chain-smoking ex-chancellor found more fame and acceptance from the German people later in his life and career that he did when he was leading the country through dangerous times.

His death has been widely mourned and eulogized all across the European continent. He had been married to his wife of 68 years until her death in 2010. He was born in 1918 and was a veteran of World War II. He was eventually captured and taken prisoner by the British. He had witnessed the humiliating terms that Germany was forced to reckon with after World War I. He joined the Hitler Youth, as every young boy had to, and saw the rise and fall of the Third Reich first hand.

After the war, Germany was divided but he quickly rose to power. He was brilliant and brash, a tremendous speaker and unbeatable debater, and he remained a political force in Germany for the rest of his life. As chancellor, he became a staunch NATO ally and had rebuilt West Germany’s armed forces. He constantly railed at the German people to forge closer ties with their brethren in East Germany.

While serving, and for years after, he helped to reignite a trust in Germany that was sorely lacking. The countries of Europe, as well as the United States and Russia, still eyed the Germans as a threat to postwar stability. He was openly disdainful of U.S. President Jimmy Carter and didn’t trust Ronald Reagan.