The past decade was marked by breaks, uprisings and protests, social anger and the triumph of populism. It was also the decade of fallen stars, anti-heroes and hopefuls whose careers ended abruptly. Conspiracy theories became mainstream, clowns rose to politics, boxers became revolutionaries and nerds became icons. In a series, SPIEGEL correspondents and reporters portray the outsiders and minor characters who influenced the decade.
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His last public appearance was in May. A lean man in a white shirt under his black jacket, stepping out of a reintegration facility in the Bronx and blinking in the camera headlights. Once again he had prepared a few sentences, as if he were still the promising politician he was once. He was happy, said Anthony Weinerthat this dark chapter was behind him and hope that he could now lead a sincere life in the service of the cause. Then he got into a black Honda that was waiting in a side street.
No politician in recent American history has crashed as spectacularly as Weiner. He was once the great hope of the Democrats, a young quick-witted local politician from Brooklyn who had made it to the US Congress at the age of 34 and where it only seemed a matter of time before he conquered the big political stage. In 2010, he married Huma Abedin, one of the closest advisors to the then Secretary of State at the time, Hillary Clinton.
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If there was a couple in political Washington at the time who were both glamorous and powerful, it was Weiner and Abedin. The two reminded a little of John and Jackie Kennedy, just in a contemporary form: Abedin didn’t even think about giving up her career for that of her husband. After all, she was on the staff of America’s most powerful woman. With any luck, she would serve the first president of the United States in a few years.
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