A prolonged government crisis arose over the Free Democratic Party's demands for changes in the cabinet, ending with Adenauer's agreement to drop Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss from a reconstructed government. Kai-Uwe von Hassel replaced him on Dec. 14.
U.S. president John F. Kennedy, during a four-day visit to West Germany, pledged with Adenauer joint efforts to reunify Germany, achieve European unity, and defend West Berlin from Communist encroachment, and on June 26 electrified West Berlin with his statement in a public address: “I am a Berliner.”
