Former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel's published 736 page memoir threatens her legacy. In her memoir published in late November and translated in over 30 languages, Merkel declines to consider that some of her policies of her four-term chancellorship might have been misguided. This has led to uproar with most critics claiming some of her decisions could have changed the course of events in the current political crisis.

Merkel, who was the first woman to be elected as Chancellor served from 2005 till 2021. She garnered worldwide fame with several titles such as "leader of the free world" and "most powerful woman". However, some historians claim she was more of a "mediator" than a sovereign.

In her memoir," Freedom" Merkel barely mentions her enemies. This approach is also more popular in the British royal family as a way of dealing with political enemies. 

Merkel's decisions noted in the second half of the memoir deal with Geopolitics considered more breathless as if dictated by her crammed diaries during cumulative crises that marked her career like the global banking crisis that began in 2007, threat of break-up of the eurozone, arrival of 1.3 million displaced people on Europe's borders in 2015 and the military conflict between Europe and Russia.

For the case of the Ukraine -Russia conflict, Merkel's reluctance to allow Ukraine join NATO is highly criticized as it is believed NATO membership of Ukraine would have scared of Putin from carrying out the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, Merkel was a stellar student of Russia and Putin spoke German, which had put the former German Chancellor in a better position as the West's closest negotiating partner with the Kremlin.

According to Torsten Oppelland, professor of political science at Jena University, Merkel was "a person with integrity and without vanity, which is unusual for a politician". This has brought in a question for historians to ponder about, a question of whether good people can make good decisions and be better leaders.