franz josef strauss ( ; 6 september 1915 – 3 october 1988) was a german politician. he was the long-time chairman of the christian social union in bavaria (csu) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between 1953 and 1969 and minister-president of the state of bavaria from 1978 until 1988. strauss is also credited as a co-founder of european aerospace conglomerate airbus.