Page "Alfred Rosenberg" Paragraph 4

In 1923, after the failed Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler — who had been imprisoned for treason — appointed Rosenberg as a leader of the Nazi movement, a position he held until Hitler's release.

Hitler remarked privately in later years that his choice of Rosenberg, whom he regarded as weak and lazy, was strategic ; Hitler did not want the temporary leader of the Nazis to become overly popular or hungry for power, because a person with either of those two qualities might not want to cede the party leadership after Hitler's release.

However, at the time of the appointment Hitler had no reason to believe that he would soon be released, and Rosenberg had not appeared weak, so this may have been Hitler reading back into history his dissatisfaction with Rosenberg for the job he did.