CBS

Erich von Ludendorff was born near Posen, Germany in 1865. Ludendorff was a German Army staff officer from 1904 to 1913 and, on the outbreak of World War I, was appointed Chief of Staff in East Prussia. In the early 1920's, seeking political weight for the German Workers' Party (later the Nazi Party) , Hitler successfully courted the well-respected former military leader. However, it was Ludendorff's tardiness at the "Beer Hall Putsch" in 1923 that arguably doomed Hitler's failed attempt to takeover the government. Tried for treason along side Hitler, Ludendorff was found not guilty. He made a run for President of Germany against Paul von Hindenburg in 1934 and lost by a landslide. Shortly thereafter, fed up with the General's ineffectiveness, Hitler ousted Ludendorff from the Nazi Party.