[1] Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2002 to 2005,[2] a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2016, and as Federal Minister of Finance in the first Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2009.

[3] A graduate of the University of Kiel, Steinbrück began his political career in the office of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and became chief of staff to Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, in 1986.

After the 2005 federal election, which resulted in a Grand Coalition government under the leadership of new Chancellor Angela Merkel of the CDU, Steinbrück was appointed Minister of Finance.

In this position, Steinbrück was charged with reducing Germany's budget deficit, curbing public debt, and introducing changes in the taxation system.

After he was nominated, controversy surrounding Steinbrück history of giving paid speeches to private banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank,[6] as well as the potential conflict of interest surrounding his seat on the board of steel conglomerate Thyssenkrupp,[7] prompted criticism from both centre-right members of Angela Merkel's coalition as well as members of SPD's left-wing.

Steinbrück's gaffe-prone campaign failed to gain traction,[8] and the SPD was defeated by Merkel's CDU in the federal election which took place on 22 September 2013.

[9] In 2003, Steinbrück and Roland Koch, the Christian Democrat premier of Hesse, together drew up a plan to reduce tax breaks and subsidies, including those on coal.

Ahead of the 2009 elections, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier included Steinbrück in his shadow cabinet of 10 women and eight men for the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Angela Merkel as chancellor.

On foreign policy issues, Steinbrück criticized Merkel for not joining Germany's allies in their military efforts against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

[20] In three stages from mid-May 2013, Steinbrück announced the twelve members of his shadow cabinet, including Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, Gesche Joost, Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, Christiane Krajewski, Karl Lauterbach, Matthias Machnig, Thomas Oppermann, Florian Pronold, Oliver Scheytt, Klaus Wiesehügel, Manuela Schwesig and Brigitte Zypries.

He signalled his support for Jürgen Trittin, at the time co-chairman of the Green Party’s parliamentary group, to become minister of finance in the case of his win.

[21] Although Steinbrück soon won the endorsement of former Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt,[15] his gaffe-prone campaign never gained traction against the popular Merkel.

In March 2015, Steinbrück joined the Agency for Modernization of Ukraine, an initiative led by Dmitry Firtash to develop a comprehensive plan of political and economic reforms in the country.

His comments led Steinbrück into a highly public press battle with Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate economist and New York Times columnist.

"[34] During his time as German Finance Minister, Steinbrück repeatedly accused the United Kingdom of pandering to the City of London by hindering efforts to reform global financial markets.

[35] In 2009, Steinbrück opposed any plans by the G-20 major economies to limit the size of banks to avoid individual institutions wielding too much influence in future and posing a risk.

[39] In a 2010 interview on German television, it appeared that Steinbrück, who had adopted a very critical stance of the shadow banking system, attributed characteristics of the private equity industry to hedge funds.

[7] His decision prompted a slew of criticism of his high earnings outside the Bundestag from Merkel's center-right coalition but also from the SPD's left wing and from anti-graft campaigners.

[50] In the wake of German investigations against the LGT Group of Liechtenstein in 2008, Steinbrück threatened that Germany would impose a levy on all fund transfers to the principality, in effect reinstating pre-1990s-style capital controls, if the country did not change its ways.