Il a été BundesgeschÃ ftsfÃ 1 \ / 4 hrer -LRB- executive director -RRB- of the national SPD from 1995 to 1998, and after holding briefly the post of Minister of Transportation and Construction in the first cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard SchrÃ der, he was the first to hold the new post of SPD General Secretary from 1999 to 2002, and thereafter became leader of the SPD fraction in the Bundestag.
De 1995 Ã 1998, il a Ã © tÃ © BundesgeschÃ ftsfÃ 1 \ / 4 hrer -LRB- directeur gÃ © nÃ © ral fÃ © dÃ © ral -RRB- du SPD.