Walter Buser

Walter Buser (14 April 1926 – 17 August 2019) was a Swiss politician from the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SDP).

Walter Buser
Walter Buser in 1986
12th Chancellor of Switzerland
In office 1981–1991
President	Kurt Furgler Fritz Honegger Pierre Aubert Leon Schlumpf Alphons Egli Otto Stich Jean-Pascal Delamuraz Arnold Koller Flavio Cotti
Deputy	Achille Casanova François Couchepin
Preceded by	Karl Huber
Succeeded by	François Couchepin
Personal details
Born	(1926-04-14)14 April 1926 Lausen, Switzerland
Died	17 August 2019(2019-08-17) (aged 93)
Political party	Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SDP)
Alma mater	University of Bâle University of Bern

Biography

Buser was born in Lausen, Switzerland, the son of a farmer. He studied at Bâle and at Bern, obtaining a doctorate in law in 1958. From 1950, he was a legal advisor and editor of Social-Democratic newspapers. From 1956 to 1962 he was chief editor of the "Socialist Federal House correspondence".

In 1965 he joined the federal administration and spent three years as head of the Legal and Information Service of the Department of Home Affairs. The Federal Council elected him Vice-Chancellor in 1968; in this capacity he was responsible for legal services and information throughout the federal administration. In 1977 he was appointed an Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Basel, where he taught in particular the administrative law of the federation.

After the resignation of Chancellor Karl Huber in 1981, Buser campaigned against Joseph Voyame of the CVP and Hans-Ulrich Ernst of the SVP. He defeated his opponents and became the first Social Democratic chancellor. Buser introduced regular press conferences and expanded the Federal Chancellery to a staff office of the Federal Council. He also adopted electronic data processing for the Federal Chancellery. He resigned his post in 1991. Buser died on 17 August 2019 at the age of 93.