For those unaware, the German President is the baby-kissing, ship-christening figurehead, with largely ceremonial duties. His or her job is to sympathize with t

For those unaware, the German President is the baby-kissing, ship-christening figurehead, with largely ceremonial duties. His or her job is to sympathize with the people, save for a few real "reserve powers" in case of emergency. The German president is the one that gets to say all sorts of things that career politicians cannot say, and because of this its essentially a end-of-career political position. The chancellor, currently Angela Merkel, is the position comparable to the United States president.