Emil Welti

In 1856, Welti was elected to the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau and to the government council. During his first term, he was head of the Justice Department. He introduced a new Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the construction of Lenzburg prison. From 1862 to 1866, he stood ran Education Department and created a new school law. His demands for civil marriage and full legal equality for Jews were not initially accepted. In the years 1858, 1862 and 1866, he was Landammann.

In 1857, the Great Council elected Welti to the Council of States and confirmed it annually until 1866. He immediately took a leading role and commented on issues such as the trade agreement with France and a railway line through the Alps. In the years 1860 and 1866, he was a Council President. In 1860, the Federal Council sent him to Geneva as Federal Commissioner to mediate during the Savoy trade talks. Geneva gave him honorary citizenship. In 1864 he again intervened in Geneva when trouble followed the State Council elections riots. In 1866, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich, and in 1867, honorary citizenship of the city of Aarau.

Emil Welti around 1870

In the Federal Council elections in 1863, Welti lost to the incumbent Friedrich Frey-Herosé. After the latter retired at the end of 1866, Welti became a promising candidate. He received support from the left wing as a supporter of a centralized state. Representatives of the industry around "railway king" Alfred Escher backed him as a staunch supporter of the Gotthard railway. In the election of the fifth member of the government on 8 December 1866 Welti received in the first ballot 103 of 159 valid votes, taking office on 1 January 1867.

From the beginning, Welti was one of the most influential figures in the state executive. During his 24-year tenure he represented four different departments: Military Department (1867–68, 1870–71, 1873–75), Political Department (1869, 1872, 1876, 1880, 1884), Post and Railway Department (1877–79, 1882–83, 1885–91) and Justice and Police Department (1881). In the years 1869, 1872, 1876, 1880, 1884 and 1891 he was Federal President. Because of his appearance and his German-friendly attitude, he was sometimes referred to as "Swiss Bismarck ".

As Secretary of Defense, Welti pushed for the merger of the individual cantonal armies into a national army. The necessity became especially evident after the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, when the army's weakness was revealed and conflicts of competence with General Hans Herzog. In the debate on the revision of the Federal Constitution, Welti represented a centralist position. However, the constitutional draft of 1872, which was decisively influenced by him, narrowly failed referendum earning 50.5% no votes. He had to accept federalist compromises, but he was able to enforce his most important concern, the unification of law, in the final constitution of 1874. He kept himself largely out of the Kulturkampf and took a mediating role.

Railroad policy was another focus. When asked whether the planned Alpine railway should lead through the Gotthard or the Splügen, he could not intervene directly as a representative of the federal government, as the railway was a matter for the cantons and private companies. In negotiations, however, he was able to convince Italy and the German Reich to support the Gotthard project and to subsidize it. He guaranteed the federal government a right of supervision and codetermination, since he did not want to leave this project of national importance to the private sector alone. In 1878, when the company threatened to fail due to increasing costs, it was able to supply additional subsidies in parliament despite fierce opposition.

For the first time in 1862, the repurchase of private railways by the federal government became the subject of debate, but succumbed to the resistance of the circles around Alfred Escher. The situation changed with the railway crisis in the late 1870s. In 1883, the Confederation could finally have asserted its right of repurchase, but because of the overvaluation of its assets, the price would have been too high. Welti put the financial management of the railway companies under federal supervision. After negotiations with the Nordostbahn had failed, the federal government was able to take over in 1890 a large share of the Jura-Simplon-Bahn.

In 1891, Welti was able to conclude a repurchase agreement with the Centralbahn, which was approved by Parliament. A referendum came about, and on 6 December 1891 the repurchase agreement was rejected by a two-thirds majority. The same day, Welti announced his retirement for the end of the year. Parliament tried to dissuade him but accepted his resignation on 17 December. In 1898 his successor Josef Zemp nationalized the most important private railways. Another reason for Welti's resignation may have been the family tragedy involving daughter-in-law Lydia Welti-Escher, who took her own life on December 12 after she was locked up in a Roman madhouse the year before.

In politics, Welti accepted no more tasks. On behalf of the Federal Council, however, he worked in trade and railway matters. He devoted himself to scientific studies and occasionally taught at the Municipal Gymnasium in Bern. At the age of 73, he died of concussion and pneumonia.

During his time in office he held the following departments:

• Military Department (1867–1868)
• Political Department as President of the Confederation (1869)
• Military Department (1870–1871)
• Political Department as President of the Confederation (1872)
• Military Department (1873–1875)
• Political Department as President of the Confederation (1876)
• Department of Posts and Telegraph (1877–1878)
• Department of Posts and Railways (1879)
• Political Department as President of the Confederation (1880)
• Department of Justice and Police (1881)
• Department of Posts and Railways (1882–1883)
• Political Department as President of the Confederation (1884)
• Department of Posts and Railways (1885–1891)

He was President of the Confederation six times, in 1869, 1872, 1876, 1880, 1884 and 1891.