Jacques Chirac - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! Jacques Chirac "Chirac" redirects here. For other uses, see Chirac (disambiguation) . Jacques Chirac Roman Catholic Jacques René Chirac (born November 29 , 1932 in Paris ) is a French politician and the current President of the French Republic . He was elected to this office in 1995 and re-elected in 2002. His current term expires in 2007. As President, he is an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the French Légion d'honneur . After completing studies at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and the École Nationale d'Administration , Jacques Chirac began his career as a high-level civil servant , and soon entered politics . He has since occupied various senior positions, such as Minister of Agriculture , Prime Minister , Mayor of Paris , and finally President of France. He has stood for lower tax rates, the removal of price controls , strong punishment for crime and terrorism ; and business privatization .

He has also argued for more socially responsible economic policies, and was elected in 1995 after campaigning on a platform of healing the "social rift" (fracture sociale). His economic policies have at various times included both laissez-faire and dirigiste (state directed) ideas. On European Union issues, he has ranged from adopting eurosceptic stances on some issues to rather more pro-EU positions. Contents 15 External links [ edit ] Early life and family Born on 29 November 1932 in the Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire clinic (fifth district of Paris ), Jacques Rene Chirac is the son of Abel François Chirac (1893-1968), a company administrator, and Marie-Louise Valette (1902-1973), a housewife. Both families were of peasant stock - even though his two grandfathers were teachers - from Sainte-Féréole in Corrèze . According to Chirac, his name "originates from the langue d'oc , that of the troubadours, therefore that of poetry". He is a Roman Catholic .

The young Chirac was an only child (his elder sister, Jacqueline, died in infancy before his birth), and was educated in Paris at the Lycée Carnot and at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand . After his baccalaureat , he did a three month stint as a sailor. In 1956, he married Bernadette Chodron de Courcel , with whom he later had two daughters, Laurence (born March 4 , 1958 ) and Claude ( January 14 , 1962 ). Claude has long been his public relations assistant and personal advisor, [1] while Laurence, who suffered from anorexia nervosa in her youth, does not participate in the political activities of her father. [2] Chirac is the grandfather of Martin Rey-Chirac by the relationship of Claude with French judoka Thierry Rey. [ edit ] Early political career view • talk • edit Inspired by General Charles de Gaulle to enter public life, Chirac continued pursuing a civil service career in the 1950s.

During this period, he joined the French Communist Party ; he sold copies of L'Humanité , and took part in meetings of a communist cell [3] . In 1950, he signed the Soviet -inspired Stockholm Appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons –enough for him to be questioned when he applied for his first visa to the United States [4] . In 1953, he attended Harvard University 's summer school before entering the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA), the elite, competitive-entrance college that trains France's top civil servants, in 1957. After earning a graduate degree from the ENA in 1959, he became a civil servant and rose rapidly through the ranks. As soon as April 1962, Chirac was appointed head of the personal staff of Georges Pompidou , then prime minister under de Gaulle. This appointment launched Chirac's political career. Pompidou considered Chirac his protégé and referred to him as "my bulldozer" for his skill at getting things done. The nickname "Le Bulldozer" caught on in French political circles. Chirac still maintains this reputation.

"Chirac cuts through the crap and comes straight to the point...It's refreshing, although you have to put your seat belt on when you work with him", said an anonymous British diplomat in 1995. At Pompidou's suggestion, Chirac ran as a Gaullist for a seat in the National Assembly in 1967. Chirac won the election and was given a post in the ministry of social affairs. (Gaullists have historically supported a strong central government and independence in foreign policy.) Although more of a "Pompidolian" than a " Gaullist ", Chirac was well-situated in de Gaulle's entourage, being related by marriage to the general's sole companion at the time of the Appeal of 18 June 1940. Chirac rose to become economy minister in the late 1960s, serving as department head and a secretary of state. As state secretary at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (1968-1971), he had worked closely with Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , who headed the ministry.

In 1968, when student and worker strikes rocked France (see May 1968 ), Chirac played a central role in negotiating a truce. The young technocrat from ENA then rose to fame; Chirac was caricatured as the archetypal brilliant ENA graduate in an Asterix graphic novel. Chirac's first high-level post came in 1972 when he became minister of agriculture and rural development under his mentor Georges Pompidou, who was elected president in 1969 . Chirac quickly earned a reputation as a champion of French farmers' interests. As minister of agriculture, Chirac first attracted international attention when he assailed U.S. , West German , and European Commission agricultural policies that conflicted with French interests. In 1974 Chirac was appointed Minister of the Interior . From March 1974 he was entrusted by President Pompidou with preparations for the presidential election then scheduled for 1976. However, these elections were brought forward because of Pompidou's sudden death on 2 April .

Chirac wanted a rally of the Gaullists behind Prime minister Pierre Messmer , yet this was to be all in vain. Jacques Chaban-Delmas announced his candidacy, in spite of the disapproval of the "Pompidolians". Chirac and others published the call of the 43 in favor of the minister of economy and finance Giscard d'Estaing, a non-Gaullist centrist. Giscard D'Estaing was elected as Pompidou's successor after France's most competitive election campaign in years. In return, the new president chose Chirac to lead the cabinet. [ edit ] Prime Minister, 1974-76 When Giscard became president, he nominated Chirac as prime minister on 27 May 1974 . At the age of just 41, Chirac stood out as the very model of the jeunes loups ("young wolves") of French political life. However, the government could not afford to ignore the narrow margin by which Giscard d'Estaing had defeated the United Left candidate, François Mitterrand , in 1974.

Giscard, not himself a member of the Gaullist Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), saw in the essentially pragmatic Chirac the qualities needed to reconcile the "Giscardian" and "non-Giscardian" factions of the parliamentary majority. As prime minister, Chirac quickly set about persuading the Gaullists that, despite the social reforms proposed by President Giscard, the basic tenets of Gaullism, such as national and European independence, would be retained. In December 1974, Saddam Hussein (then vice-president of Iraq , but largely de facto leader) invited Chirac to Baghdad for an official visit. Chirac accepted and visited Iraq in 1975. Saddam Hussein approved a deal granting French oil companies a number of privileges plus a 23 per cent share of Iraqi oil. As part of this deal, France also sold to Iraq a highly controversial Osirak MTR nuclear reactor , a type designed to produce plutonium which can be made into nuclear weapons. The Osirak reactor was later bombed by the Israeli Air Force , provoking considerable anger from French officials.

The facility's intended use as a basis for nuclear weapons was confirmed after the 1991 Gulf War . Chirac is advised by Pierre Juillet and Marie-France Garaud , two former advisers of Pompidou. These have organized the campaign against Chaban-Delmas in 1974. They advocated the clash with Giscard d'Estaing. Citing Giscard's unwillingness to give him authority, Chirac resigned as Prime Minister in 1976. He proceeded to build up his political base among France's several conservative parties, with a goal of reconstituting the Gaullist UDR into a neo-Gaullist group, the Rally for the Republic . Michel Aurillac - Minister of Cooperation [ edit ] Mayor of Paris [ edit ] Actions as mayor By an astute move, Chirac secured his election as secretary-general of the UDR in the face of potential opposition from the party "barons" and soon afterwards consolidated his hold over the majority by easily defeating an opposition motion of censure. Chirac also formed the conservative Rally for the Republic movement in 1976 to perpetuate the policies of Charles de Gaulle .

With the new party firmly under his control, Chirac was elected mayor of Paris in 1977, a position he held until 1995. As mayor of Paris, Chirac's political influence grew. Chirac supporters point out that, as mayor, he provided for programs to help the elderly, people with disabilities, and single mothers, while providing incentives for businesses to stay in Paris. His opponents contend that he installed clientelist policies, and favored office buildings at the expense of housing, driving rents high and worsening the situation of workers. Jacques Chirac and Pascal Lissouba , November 7 , 1993 in Paris In addition, Chirac has been named in several cases of alleged corruption and abuse which occurred during his office term as mayor, some of which have already led to felony convictions against other politicians and aides. However, a controversial judicial decision from 1999 grants him virtual immunity, as current president of France. He has refused to testify on these matters, arguing that this would be incompatible with his presidential functions. See Corruption scandals in the Paris region .

[ edit ] The road to the presidency In 1978, he attacked the pro-European policy of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing . When he was hospitalized in Cochin hospital, he published the " Call of Cochin " in which he declared "as always about the drooping of France, the pro-foreign party acts with its peaceable and reassuring voice". Juillet and Garaud were the instigators of this text. Chirac separated with them after the bad result of the 1979 European election. Nevertheless, the already-established rivalry with Giscard d'Estaing became even more intense. In 1981, Chirac made his first run for president. Chirac ran against the sitting president Giscard in the presidential election , thus splitting the centre-right vote; both Chirac and Giscard were defeated by Socialist François Mitterrand . Giscard has always blamed Chirac for his defeat in the 1981 elections. Giscard was told by Mitterrand, before his death, that he dined with Chirac before the election. Chirac told the Socialist candidate that he wanted "get rid of Giscard".

After 1981, the relationship between the two men became somewhat tense, with Giscard, even though he was in the same government coalition as Chirac, taking opportunities to criticize Chirac's actions. When a strong conservative coalition won a slight majority in the National Assembly in 1986, Mitterrand appointed Chirac prime minister. This power-sharing arrangement, known as cohabitation , gave Chirac the lead in domestic affairs. However, it is generally conceded that Mitterrand used the areas granted to the President of the Republic - defence and foreign affairs - to belittle his Prime Minister. Chirac's cabinet sold a lot of public companies and abolished the wealth tax. Elsewhere, the project of university reform caused an important crisis when a young man called Malik Oussekine was killed by the police. Furthermore, he ordered a military intervention against the separatists of New Caledonia in the Ouvéa cave. But he refused any alliance with the National Front , the far-right party of Jean-Marie Le Pen . Chirac sought the presidency and ran against Mitterrand for a second time in 1988, but was defeated in the runoff elections .

He resigned from the the cabinet but remained mayor of Paris and was still active in parliament. Five years later, the Right won the 1993 legislative election but Chirac announced that he did not want to come back as prime minister, suggesting the appointment of Edouard Balladur , who had promised that he would not run for the presidency against Chirac. However, benefiting from positive polls, Balladur decided to be a presidential candidate. During the 1995 presidential campaign Chirac criticized the "sole thought" represented by his right-wing challenger and promised to reduce the "social fracture". Ultimately, he obtained more votes than Balladur in the first round, and then defeated the Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin in the second round. [ edit ] Presidency [ edit ] First term as president His 18 years as mayor of Paris finally proved the launching pad for his first successful bid for the French presidency. To win he had to first fend off a challenge from a fellow Gaullist – prime minister Édouard Balladur (who ran as an independent, though supported by a large share of Chirac's RPR, and finished third in the first round).

He then narrowly beat Socialist Party challenger Lionel Jospin in the final runoff election. On his third attempt to win the French presidency, Jacques Chirac finally succeeded in being elected president in May 1995. Shortly after taking office, Chirac – undaunted by international protests by angry environmental groups – insisted upon the resumption of nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia in 1995. Reacting to criticism, Chirac said, "You only have to look back at 1935...There were people then who were against France arming itself, and look what happened." Chirac announced on February 1 , 1996 that France had ended "once and for all" its nuclear testing, intending to accede to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . Jacques Chirac with Bill Clinton outside Élysée Palace . Chirac was elected on a platform of tax cuts and job programs, but his policies did little to ease the labour strikes during his first months in office. On the domestic front, neo-liberal economic austerity measures introduced by Chirac and his conservative prime minister Alain Juppé , including budgetary cutbacks, proved highly unpopular.

At about the same time, it became apparent that Juppé and others had obtained preferential conditions for public housing, as well as other perks. At the year's end Chirac faced major workers' strikes. One of his nicknames is Chameleon Bonaparte . Another is La Girouette ("the weathervane "). At one point an anti-European Gaullist, he became a champion of the Euro as president. Trying to firm up his party's government coalition, in 1997 Chirac dissolved parliament for early legislative elections in a gamble designed to bolster support for his conservative economic program. But this strategy backfired. Chirac's dismissal of the parliament created an uproar, and his power was weakened by the subsequent backlash. The Socialist Party, joined by other parties on the left, soundly defeated Chirac's conservative allies, forcing Chirac into a new period of cohabitation with Jospin as prime minister. This power-sharing arrangement between Chirac and Jospin lasted five years. Cohabitation significantly weakened the power of Chirac's presidency.

The French president, by a constitutional convention , only controls foreign and military policy— and even then, allocation of funding is under the control of Parliament and under the significant influence of the prime minister. Short of dissolving parliament and calling for new elections, the president was left with little power to influence public policy regarding crime, the economy, and public services. Chirac seized the occasion to periodically criticize Jospin's government. [ edit ] Second term as president President Chirac and United States President George W. Bush talk over issues during the 27th G8 summit , July 21 , 2001 . At the age of 69, Chirac faced his fourth presidential campaign in 2002. He was the first choice of fewer than one in five voters in the first round of voting of the presidential elections in April 2002.

It had been expected that he would face incumbent prime minister Lionel Jospin in the second round of elections; instead, Chirac faced controversial far right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen of the law-and-order, anti-immigrant National Front , and so won re-election by a landslide; most parties outside the National Front had called for opposing Le Pen, even if it meant voting for Chirac. Slogans such as "vote for the crook, not for the fascist" or "vote with a clothespin on your nose" appeared. While Jacques Chirac was reviewing troops in a motorcade such as this one on Bastille Day 2002, he was shot at by a bystander. The left-wing Socialist Party being in thorough disarray following Jospin's defeat, Chirac reorganized politics on the right, establishing a new party — initially called the Union of the Presidential Majority, then the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). The RPR had broken down - a number of members had formed Eurosceptic breakaways. While the Giscardian liberals of the Union of French Democracy ( UDF ) had moved sharply to the right. The UMP won the parliamentary elections that followed the presidential poll with ease.

On July 14 , 2002 , during Bastille Day celebrations, Chirac survived an assassination attempt by a lone gunman with a rifle hidden in a guitar case. The would-be assassin fired a shot toward the presidential motorcade , before being overpowered by bystanders [1] .The gunman, Maxime Brunerie , underwent psychiatric testing; the violent far-right group with which he was associated, Unité Radicale was then administratively dissolved. Along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder , Chirac emerged as a leading voice against US president George W. Bush 's administration's conduct towards Iraq. Despite intense U.S. pressure, Chirac threatened to veto, at that given point, a resolution in the U.N. Security Council that would authorize the use of military force to rid Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction, and rallied other governments to his position. "Iraq today does not represent an immediate threat that justifies an immediate war," Chirac said on March 18 , 2003 . Chirac was then the target of various American and British commentators supporting the decisions of president Bush and prime minister Tony Blair .

Jacques Chirac giving a speech to the French People to vote "Oui" ("Yes") on the European Constitution . With José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Gerhard Schröder . In 2005 after it was revealed that the 2012 Olympics would be held in Britian, Chirac was quoted as saying: "The only thing they've ever done for European agriculture is mad cow...We can't trust people who have such bad food. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food." [2] On May 29 , 2005 a referendum was held in France to decide whether the country should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union . The result was a victory for the No campaign, with 55 per cent of voters rejecting the treaty on a turnout of 69 per cent, dealing a devastating blow to Chirac and the UMP party. In an address to the nation, Chirac has declared that the new cabinet's top priority would be to curb the unemployment level, which consistently hovers above 10%, calling for a "national mobilization" to that effect.

According to a July 2005 poll, 32% judge Jacques Chirac favorably and 63% unfavorably. It is unclear whether Jacques Chirac will run for a third mandate in 2007 and, should he not run or should he fail in a re-election bid, whether he risks prosecution and jail time for the various fraudulent schemes in which he has been named. While he is currently immune from prosecution as a president, prescription (i.e. the statute of limitations ) does not apply. His authority was seriously weakened by the October-November 2005 Paris suburb riots in which hundreds of cars and numerous warehouses were set alight throughout France by thousands of alienated North African immigrants who complain of widespread discrimination and unemployment. The riots were triggered by the accidental deaths of 2 North African immigrants in a poor Paris suburb named Clichy-sous-Bois who were rumoured to be fleeing from police. [3] Chirac later acknowledged that France had not done enough to integrate its Muslim North African citizens into French society or combat racism. [4] One issue seen of increasing importance with respect to a possible 2007 re-election bid is Jacques Chirac's age and health.

Chirac has often been described to be extremely resilient and hard-working, and to have conserved a legendary appetite; before 2005, he had never had major health problems throughout his long political career. He used to be a heavy smoker but had given up many years ago. Nevertheless, it has become apparent that he is also careful of hiding signs that may betray declining health.[ citation needed ] Jacques Chirac with George W. Bush , President of the United States of America . On January 19 , 2006 , Chirac said that France was prepared to launch a nuclear strike against any country that sponsors a terrorist attack against French interests. He said his country's nuclear arsenal had been reconfigured to include the ability to make a tactical strike in retaliation for terrorism. [5] On March 17 , 2006 , Chirac, was involved in a controversy over a youth employment law after protests in Paris against the measure ended in violence and 187 arrests. Unions and student groups were reported to be planning further action, claiming up to 600,000 university and high school students took part in Thursday's action.

They have tied any talks to withdrawal of the employment law, which is opposed by 68% of French people, according to an opinion poll published in Le Parisien newspaper, a rise of 13 percentage points in a week. During April and May 2006, President Chirac's administration has been beset by a crisis as his chosen Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin , was accused of asking General Rondot, a top level French spy, for a secret investigation into the latter's chief political rival, Nicolas Sarkozy in 2004. This matter has been called the Clearstream Affair . On May 10 , 2006 , following a Cabinet meeting, Chirac made a rare television appearance to try to protect Prime Minister Villepin from the scandal and to debunk allegations that Chirac himself had set up a Japanese bank account containing 300 million francs in 1992 as Mayor of Paris.

[6] Chirac stated that "The Republic is not a dictatorship of rumors, a dictatorship of calumny." [7] Some political commentators note that the president's authority and credibility is in serious decline due to this scandal and combined impact of the French voters rejection of the European Union constitution in May 2005 which Chirac had publicly championed. In July 2006, the G8 met to discuss international energy concerns. Despite the rising awareness of global warming issues, the G8 focuses on "energy security" issues. President Chirac continues to be the voice within the G8 summit meetings to support international action to curb global warming and climate change concerns. Chirac warns that "humanity is dancing on a volcano" and calls for serious action by the world's leading industrialised nations. [8] [ edit ] Impact on French popular culture Because of Jacques Chirac's long career in visible government position, he has often been parodied or caricatured : Young Jacques Chirac is the basis of a character in Astérix : that of a young, dashing bureaucrat just out of the bureaucracy school, proposing methods to quell Gallic unrest to elderly, old-style Roman politicians.

He was featured in Le Bêbête Show as an overexcited, jumpy character. Jacques Chirac is one favorite character of Les Guignols de l'Info , a satiric latex puppet show . He was once portrayed as a rather likeable, though overexcited, character; however, following the corruption allegations, he has been shown as a kind of dilettante and incompetent who pilfers public money and lies through his teeth. His character for a while developed a super hero alter ego, Super Menteur ("Super Liar") in order to get him out of embarrassing situations. [ edit ] Political offices held by Jacques Chirac [ edit ] Trivia Chirac showed his more caring side when compared with the hard nosed image his critics project of him when he and his wife Bernadette informally adopted a boat people refugee , Anh Dao Traxel , whom they took into their home in 1979 , after Chirac met her crying at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris when she was 21. When he met her he said; "Don't cry ma cherie.

You are coming home with us."[ citation needed ] [ edit ] Titles from birth to currently Monsieur le Président de la République française ( 1995 –present) His Excellency The Sovereign Co-Prince of Andorra ( 1995 –present) Preceded by: Charles Pasqua | French politician | Britannica.com French politician Charles Pasqua, (born April 18, 1927, Grasse , France—died June 29, 2015, Suresnes), French businessman and politician who served as interior minister of France (1986–88; 1993–95). Charles Pasqua, 1995. Pascal Pavani—AFP/Getty Images Pasqua was born to Corsican parents. His father, a policeman, was a member of the Resistance during World War II , as was an uncle who was deported by the Nazis in 1942. By age 15 Pasqua was a courier for the local Resistance network. He began law studies but never completed them.

Instead, he held various jobs—wine trader, private detective, and eventually sales director for the pastis producer Ricard (later Pernod Ricard). By the late 1940s Pasqua was an active militant in Gen. Charles de Gaulle ’s Rally of the French People (Rassemblement du Peuple Français; RPF), a mass movement that briefly functioned as a political party. In 1958, during the Algerian War (1954–62), Pasqua created the Civic Action Service (Service d’Action Civique; SAC) to protect Gaullist personalities from terrorist bombings and attacks by far-right French Algerians who opposed Algerian independence. Pasqua served in the National Assembly as a deputy for the Hauts-de-Seine département from 1968 to 1976. When Prime Minister Jacques Chirac resigned in 1976, Pasqua became his main ally within the newly formed neo-Gaullist party Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République; RPR). A brilliant campaigner and political strategist, Pasqua helped Chirac win the crucial job of mayor of Paris in 1977.

He then masterminded a series of political attacks against Pres. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing that cost the latter the presidency in the 1981 elections. Once Giscard was out of office, Chirac was established as the natural leader of the right. Pasqua had been elected a senator representing the Hauts-de-Seine département in 1977, but he gave up his seat in 1986 when Chirac became prime minister and duly appointed Pasqua as his interior minister. When Chirac lost to socialist François Mitterrand in the 1988 presidential elections, however, Pasqua accused Chirac of abandoning Gaullist doctrine and even tried to have him removed as leader of the RPR. Pasqua returned to the French Senate during 1988–93. In 1993 he backed Édouard Balladur rather than Chirac for the post of prime minister; after gaining that post, Balladur appointed Pasqua as his interior minister.

Even with his reputation as a tough law-and-order advocate whose main concern was the stemming of illegal Arab immigration and Islamic activism, Pasqua nevertheless moved comfortably among the more traditional politicians, including President Mitterrand, and was thus a key factor in the so-called cohabitation government (a power-sharing arrangement between the socialist president and the conservative prime minister). During Pasqua’s tenure the international assassin Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (commonly known as Carlos the Jackal) was imprisoned, and the French government scored victories against Algerian and Kurdish terrorists. By the end of 1994 Pasqua topped the polls as one of France’s most popular politicians. Britannica Stories Methane Surge Worries Scientists In the May 1995 presidential elections, with the goal of gaining the office of prime minister, Pasqua supported Balladur, who ran under a conservative splinter group of the RPR. When Chirac won the presidency, Pasqua was ousted from his position; he reentered the Senate that year. Pasqua left the RPR in 1998 and the following year founded the Rally for France (Rassemblement pour la France).

In 1999 he left the Senate and entered the European Parliament , where he remained until 2004. He was reelected to the Senate that year. Although he denied any wrongdoing, Pasqua was implicated in various political scandals. Notably, he was accused of receiving favours from Saddam Hussein ’s Iraqi regime under the United Nations oil-for-food program (1996–2003). In 2009 Pasqua was convicted of profiting from illegal arms sales to Angola in the 1990s and was sentenced to a year in prison. In 2010 he was found guilty of having embezzled funds from an agency controlled by the interior ministry during his second term as interior minister; the one-year prison sentence for that conviction was suspended, however.

Jacques Chirac | president of France | Britannica.com president of France Alternative Title: Jacques René Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac, in full Jacques René Chirac (born November 29, 1932, Paris , France ), French politician, who served as the country’s president (1995–2007) and prime minister (1974–76, 1986–88). Jacques Chirac, 2006. Marcello Casal Jr/ABr Education and early career Chirac, the son of a bank employee, graduated from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris in 1954, served as an officer in the French army in Algeria (1956–57), and earned a graduate degree from the École Nationale d’Administration in 1959. He then became a civil servant and rose rapidly through the ranks, serving as a department head and a secretary of state before becoming minister for parliamentary relations in 1971–72 under President Georges Pompidou .

He was first elected to the National Assembly as a Gaullist in 1967. Rise to national prominence After serving as minister for agriculture (1972–74) and of the interior (1974), Chirac was appointed prime minister by newly elected President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1974. Citing personal and professional differences with Giscard, Chirac resigned from that office in 1976 and set about reconstituting the Gaullist Union of Democrats for the Republic into a neo-Gaullist group, the Rally for the Republic (RPR). With the party firmly under his control, he was elected mayor of Paris in 1977 and continued to build his political base among the several conservative parties of France. Chirac’s first campaign for the presidency in 1981 split the conservative vote with Giscard and thereby allowed the Socialist Party candidate, François Mitterrand , to win. In parliamentary elections held in 1986, the coalition of right-wing parties won a slim majority of seats in the National Assembly, and Chirac was appointed prime minister by Mitterrand.

This power-sharing arrangement between the two posts was the first of its kind in the history of the Fifth Republic , in which previously the president and the prime minister had always belonged to the same party or the same electoral coalition. In this arrangement, known as cohabitation , Chirac, as prime minister, was responsible for domestic affairs, while Mitterrand retained responsibility for foreign policy. Chirac’s most important achievement during his second term was his administration’s privatization of many major corporations that had been nationalized under Mitterrand. He also reduced payroll and other taxes in an effort to stimulate job creation in the private sector. As the candidate of the centre-right RPR, Chirac ran for the presidency against Mitterrand and was defeated in runoff elections in May 1988, whereupon he resigned the post of prime minister. Remaining mayor of Paris, he made his third run for the presidency in May 1995 and this time defeated the Socialist candidate, Lionel Jospin . Presidency Jacques René Chirac - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (born 1932).

After two terms as prime minister, from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, French politician Jacques Chirac began his first term as president of France in May 1995. His center-right nationalist, populist, and free-market policies built on the legacy of former president Charles de Gaulle. A practicing Roman Catholic with a taste for food, chess, cards, and Chinese archaeology, Chirac developed his political base from both rural and urban roots. His ancestral home in rural Correze, France, elected him to the National Assembly continuously from 1967, and he served as the elected mayor of his native Paris, France, from 1977 to 1995. In 2002 he was elected to a second consecutive term as president with the largest margin of victory in any French presidential election. His term ended in 2007.

Article History City Mayors: Bertrand Delanoe - Mayor of Paris former Mayor of Paris By Andrew Stevens and James Monaghan 20 March 2008: Bertrand Delanoë was elected as Paris' first Socialist mayor in recent times in March 2001. Since then he has survived an assassination attempt, failed to secure the Olympic Games and seen a state of emergency declared when riots engulfed the city's suburbs. He has also instituted a series of popular cultural initiatives and has never kept his homosexuality a secret. Easily re-elected in March 2008, the mayor has been short-listed for the 2008 World Mayor Award . Update 31 March 2014: Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist candidate, has been elected Mayor of Paris. She won 54.5 per cent of votes against Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet of the conservative opposition UMP party. Hidalgo, who has served for 13 years as deputy to outgoing Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, will become the first female mayor of the capital.

Having been born in the French colony of Tunisia in 1951, the Delanoë family moved back to France during Bertrand’s teenage years. Delanoë’s first post within the Socialist Party was as its Secretary in the Aveyron department. Delanoë was first elected to the Paris City Council in 1977, the year Jacques Chirac became mayor. He has also served in the French Senate, which unusually has many mayors among its membership. The Socialists’ control of the city council is significant as it is the first time since the Paris Commune of 1871 that city has been run by the left. Delanoë election as the nominated candidate of an alliance of left parties took place against the backdrop of a significantly disgraced and divided right following revelations concerning former mayors Jacques Chirac and Jean Tiberi. France’s strict privacy laws have traditionally protected public figures from intrusion into their private lives and the Mayor is the only major French politician to be openly gay. However, in 2002, an attempt was made on his life by a would-be assassin, Azedine Berkane. M Berkane claimed that the mayor’s homosexuality incited him to make the attack.

The mayor was not seriously injured, though he spent two weeks in hospital. Though M Delanoë invested much energy into Paris’ failed bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, the public have been rather more forgiving to him than to President Chirac, whose unfortunate comments about London’s rival bid were attributed to the decision. M Delanoë’s popularity currently outstrips all other political figures in France. The darkest hour of M Delanoë’s mayoralty came with the disturbances that broke out in Paris’ ‘red belt’ suburbs in October 2005. The banlieus have been the scene of many riots over the past two decades and on this occasion broke out following the deaths of two teenagers of North African descent during a police pursuit in the commune of Clichy-sous-Bois, which has the highest levels of deprivation in metropolitan Paris. On 8 November the French President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency using powers. Though the rioting eventually ceased, hundreds were arrested and thousands of cars burnt. In response to the riots, the French government has tightened immigration regulations, especially around granting French citizenship.

Elections to the Paris City Council are held every six years (extended by one year in 2007 because of that year's presidential poll). There are 163 conseillers for the 20 arrondissements. The mayor is chosen as the head of his party's list but contests the election as a councillor rather than as mayor. Policies as Mayor On housing, Mr Delanoë’s pledged at his election to reintegrate the Parisian population by buying up luxury properties, mainly in up-market areas of Paris, and making them available at lower rents to poorer tenants. This he has done by buying up properties in the west and centre of the city and thus making several hundred new apartments available as moderate rent dwellings, or HLMs (Habitations à Loyer Modéré), although this has not been welcomed by all the current residents, who accuse him of pointless social engineering. He says that this policy will reverse the trend of poorer people, especially younger families, abandoning the city altogether as well as reintegrating the city population, a policy already practiced in other European cities such as Munich.

His policy is based on the ‘Law for Solidarity and Urban Renewal’, passed by France’s Socialist Government in 2000, which makes it compulsory for communes of more than 50,000 people to have rent controls in at least 20 per cent of the housing stock by 2020. The aim is to standardise the principal of ‘social variation’, and prevent neighbourhoods slipping into either very rich or very poor ghettos. Mr Delanoë’s applies this law to each of the 20 arrondissements (districts) of Paris, which vary between 30 per cent social housing to one per cent. He wants to make the obligatory minimum threshold of 20 per cent apply evenly across the whole of the city. Needless to say, providing cheap accommodation in the middle of Paris can have an influence on how people vote. The previous administration was accused of favouring supporters of Chirac’s RPR in housing allocation.

Delanoë’s hopes to bring down the 93,000 applications for HLMs (Habitations à Loyer Modéré) by providing 3,500 new homes, mainly in the 8th and 13th arrondissements annually, and thus even out the city's already flagrant east-west divide Delanoë’s was elected on a pledge to control car traffic and the associated pollution. He pointed out that “private motorists, who make up a quarter of road users, use up 94 per cent of Paris’s road surfaces”. He set out to combat this by restricting access to cars in the city centre. By reserving lanes on major routes for buses, taxis and cycles only and thus restricting cars to one or two lanes, he made taking a car into town unattractive. He wants to eventually eliminate motorised traffic on both banks of the Seine completely and built a new tramway in the south of Paris in 2006. The transformation of Paris' city centre through the bike hire scheme known as Vélib has led to a massive increase in support for the city's socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë, according to the Libération newspaper.

Vélib, or vélo libre, is operated by the city council in conjunction with advertising giant JC Decaux and utilises 20,000 pay-as-you-ride cycles from 1,450 automated hire points across the city. The scheme has seen the city streets of the French capital transformed and the credit given the Delanoë’s administration in effectively delivering it has seen his popularity rocket among Parisians according to the newspaper. The transformation of Paris' city centre through the bike hire scheme known as Vélib has led to a massive increase in support for the city's socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë, according to the Libération newspaper. Vélib, or vélo libre, is operated by the city council in conjunction with advertising giant JC Decaux and utilises 20,000 pay-as-you-ride cycles from 1,450 automated hire points across the city. The scheme has seen the city streets of the French capital transformed and the credit given the Delanoë’s administration in effectively delivering it has seen his popularity rocket among Parisians according to the newspaper.

With the revitalisation of the capital's popular image broad, not least after the 2012 Olympic bid disappointment, the mayor now plans to introduce 'autolib', with two thousand small cars available for short-term users from stands on street corners. Having presided over a civic onslaught of the French right in the capital, Delanoë sensed momentum behind his bid to replace François Hollande as PS leader, crashing out in third place at its 2008 Reims congress and subsequently declaring the party "gravely ill". Mayor Delanoë was long-listed for the 2008 World Mayor Award Best mayors sought The City Mayors Foundation invites you to nominate a candidate for the 2014 World Mayor Prize. The Prize is awarded every two years to a mayor who has made outstanding contributions to his / her community and has developed a vision for urban living and working that is relevant to towns and cities across the world. Previous winners and runners-up include the mayors of Bilbao, Perth, Mexico City, Oklahoma City, Cape Town, Zurich, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Athens, Mississauga and Tirana. The World Mayor Project aims to show what outstanding mayors can achieve and raise their profiles nationally and internationally.

During the first round, suitable candidates may be suggested until the middle of May 2014. A shortlist of 25 nominees will be announced in June. To understand the Front National's appeal, look at France's political elite | World news | The Guardian To understand the Front National's appeal, look at France's political elite Laurent Fabius, the Paris climate deal overseer, is exactly the sort of politician 6 million French voters turned away from Laurent Fabius became the prime minister aged 37 back in the 1980s. Photograph: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images Monday 14 December 2015 09.14 EST Last modified on Monday 14 December 2015 09.50 EST Share on Messenger Close If you want to understand why 6 million disaffected French voters gave their support to Marine Le Pen’s Front National candidates in the regional elections (and will do so again when they get the chance), you could do worse than contemplate the career of Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister who chaired the 10-day summit on climate change in Paris.

Climate change campaigners, who worry most about the existential threat of global warming (I do myself), heaved a collective sigh of relief that leaders of 196 countries pulled off a cliffhanger agreement on Saturday night. Sceptics point out that key clauses are more aspirational than substantial; wishful hot air, we might say. Even supporters are wary . I’m sure both perspectives are correct. As Monday’s Guardian editorial points out, multilateral international agreements are hard to reach, as David Cameron is finding out in his efforts to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership with just 27 colleagues. The stalled 2001 Doha trade talks resume (again) this week. But they all remain a vital, if painfully rocky, road forward, especially at a time when technocratic internationalism, in vogue since the end of the cold war, is retreating before a rising tide of populist and xenophobic nationalism. The alternatives to Doha are regional pacts that carry clear dangers. Paris climate deal: reaction from the experts Read more Step forward Fabius. You’ve never heard of him? I bet you have, though you can be forgiven for not remembering.

Cast your mind back to the mid-80s when Margaret Thatcher was fighting the miners, Jeremy Corbyn was a new MP and Neil Kinnock was starting to expel assorted Trots from Labour’s tent, some the very same people now crawling back in. In France, the then president, François Mitterrand, had just abandoned his experiment in “socialism in one country”, sacked the communists in his cabinet and embraced market reforms. His modernising prime minister, appointed to symbolise this compromise, was a 37-year-old technocrat called Laurent Fabius. He lasted 20 months until the Socialists lost the parliamentary elections in March 1986. You can read his CV here , but apart from the HIV-tainted blood scandal and the sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior (both happened on his watch), there’s really no need. Why not? Because he’s a very familiar French type, part of what they like to call the “republican elite” – clever men and women accelerated through an unashamedly elitist education system to the postgraduate colleges that dominate French public life and many corporations.

These are the grandes écoles in and around Paris, where the brightest are inducted into the technocratic fraternité. When I was at school in the dying days of the Fourth Republic of 1946-58 (De Gaulle replaced it after his return to power) there was a patronising joke about the French politician who fell asleep in a debate and woke to find he’d been prime minister three times. The Fifth Republic hasn’t been anything like as fragile since the EU partnership with Germany did wonders for French recovery and reform. But the elite still get recycled in ways that Friends of the Earth ought to applaud. After flirting with rightwing Catholic nationalism before the second world war (where his role remains murkily ambiguous), Mitterrand first became a cabinet minister in 1947, held 11 jobs by 1958, many more posts over the coming decades and died shortly after leaving the presidency (1981-95) almost 50 years later. In Britain, only William Gladstone and Winston Churchill, both exceptional men, can claim such longevity at the highest level.

Ken Clarke, an MP since 1970, became a lowly government whip in 1972 and only gained cabinet rank when Mrs T could no longer ignore his ability in 1985, but kept it until 2014, a troublemaker to the end. But he is a genial freak of longevity. His peers are all long dead or, well, peers. Front National held back in France – but its trajectory is on the up Read more In France it’s pretty normal. Jaques Chirac, the president from 1995 to 2007, his comfortable background not so posh as Fabius’s but similarly educated in the grandes écoles, became an MP in 1967, a technocratic insider and protege of the then president, Georges Pompidou (don’t ask), who called him “my bulldozer”. A minister by 1968, when he helped negotiate a truce with rioting students, he became prime minister (1974-76), the mayor of Paris (1977-95) and so on.

Fabius is cut from similar cloth, except he swung to the left, not the right, and led the successful campaign to say no to the draft EU constitution in the 2005 referendum in France, the one that got Tony Blair off his Cameron-style hook. He lost the presidential nomination in 2007 to François Hollande’s old flame Ségolène Royal but was appointed foreign minister when the left finally won back the Élysée under Hollande in 2012. As people, they are very different, but they have almost all gone through the same educational sausage machine to become what are known as “énarques” (as in École nationale d’administration), the folk who run the country. There is nothing like it here, certainly not an Oxford PPE, which is general studies by comparison with French postgrad rigour. Nothing much like it in the US either, though Harvard Law (the Obamas, the Clintons etc), the Kennedy School, Yale (the Bushes), Princeton and Stanford are pretty dominant. Money talks more than education in US politics, doesn’t it, Donald ?

It’s government by this kind of highly familiar cast of elite politicians that so many French voters deem to have failed them in the globalising years. France remains a relatively good place to live in so many ways, but unemployment is stubbornly high at about 11% and has not fallen much since the banking crash and eurozone recession. Economic insecurity feeds the anti-Muslim narrative much as it does in Britain and in Trumpland. As Simon Jenkins wittily put it , Trump’s xenophobic speeches sound like a frightened and insecure man playing eagerly into Osama bin Laden’s masterplan to make the west afraid. Don’t ban Donald Trump. Just keep on laughing at him | David Mitchell Read more Britain has plenty of troubled and insecure voters too, many with plenty to complain about. But Ukip is not the NF nor Trump, Nigel Farage is not Le Pen, father, daughter or niece Marion. It shies away from political dynasty more than the supposedly more egalitarian US. Ukip won 12.7% of the vote at the general election.

So Ukip is not a serious claimant to power, as Marine Le Pen still sees herself to be in 2017, despite the big parties ganging up to squeeze her out in the second round on Sunday. It did the trick, as it did in 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen faced Chirac in round two. But there was a price. Leftwing voters refused to rescue Chirac’s party twice and voted down the EU constitution in 2005. It is not a card the mainstream can play forever, combining against the radical left and right, recycling familiar faces. Imagine if junior ministers from the Clement Attlee or late Churchill era were still in control at Westminster 10 years ago, if cabinet grandees under Harold Wilson or Ted Heath had only just left the stage – or were still running the BBC or Rolls-Royce. Our problem is the opposite, a tendency to overpromote young politicians and then spit them out when they are getting the experience to do the job better. Fabius will be 70 next year. If Marine Le Pen does well again in 2017 against Hollande, even if she doesn’t win, she may further poison the French political well.

In that case, even the well-meaning, but largely voluntary, climate change deal Fabius pulled together on Saturday night may be too late to do much good. In all sorts of ways, things are hotting up. Do you suppose anyone mentioned Rainbow Warrior to him in Paris? Jacques Chirac - The New York Times The New York Times Supported by Jacques Chirac News about Jacques Chirac, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. More Updated: Dec. 15, 2011 Jacques Chirac, often seen as the embodiment of France from afar, was president of France from 1995 to 2007. Charming, debonair, skilled in the national art of social discourse, in his last year in office, Mr. Chirac seemed to be gliding toward retirement and a respectable place in history. Instead, he came under unrelenting attack, so much so that the newspaper Libération named '‘Chiracophobia’' as '‘the new national sport.’' The disillusionment with Mr.

Chirac was not only personal but also a reflection of the dread among the French public that their nation had lost its glory abroad and its way at home. In 2009, an investigating magistrate ordered Mr. Chirac to stand trial on corruption charges dating to his time years ago as mayor of Paris. He was accused of breach of trust and embezzlement, by approving the creation of 28 fake jobs in the 1990’s for cronies and party political operatives. Mr. Chirac denied the charges. The trial was adjourned in March 2011 after a constitutional challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeals. In September 2011 , after a six-month hiatus, the trial reopened — but Mr. Chirac was absent. A French court decided that the trial would proceed without Mr. Chirac having to be present, citing the poor state of his mental health. Mr. Chirac’s lawyers submitted a medical report to the presiding judge saying that he was medically unfit to take part in the proceedings because his memory lapses meant he could not reliably testify about the events of 20 years ago. On Dec. 15, Mr.

Chirac was convicted of embezzlement and misuse of public funds . He received a two-year suspended sentence. The weekly magazine Paris Match reported that Mr. Chirac suffers from anosognosia, meaning a memory loss that the sufferer himself is unaware of and unable to recognize. Anosognosia is often seen in Alzheimer’s patients, for example. Mr. Chirac’s lawyers said that in his case the memory loss was a symptom possibly related to a 2005 stroke. Mr. Chirac was 79 at the time of his conviction. The anticorruption group Anticor , a plaintiff in the case, asked the judge to appoint a neutral expert to examine the issue. But prosecutors said they had no objection to the trial proceeding without Mr. Chirac in the courtroom. Mr. Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, when he was elected president. He had immunity from prosecution until he left the presidency in 2007, and his lawyers have been fighting since then to avoid a trial. The city of Paris dropped its complaint against Mr.

Chirac in 2010 in return for a payment of more than 2.2 million euros, which came from Mr. Chirac and the ruling political party, the Union for a Popular Movement, which is the successor to Mr. Chirac’s party. Also on trial in the case are two former chiefs of staff at the Paris city hall and seven others said to have benefited improperly from graft. Political Background Mr. Chirac is the first former French head of state to be put on trial since Marshal Philippe Pétain, who was convicted of treason at the end of World War II. Widespread criticism in his last years in office underscored a larger point: Mr. Chirac’s 1995 campaign promises to '‘mend the social fracture’' in France and reduce unemployment, among other things, had been unfulfilled. A four-hour documentary of his political career aired on France 2 television in 2006 — the first time an assessment of a sitting president has been shown on public television in prime time. In it the country’s political elite, many of them onetime friends and colleagues of Mr.

Chirac, lined up to tell stories about his thirst for power, his betrayals, his opportunism and his policy U-turns that earned him the nickname '‘the Weathervane.’' Mr. Chirac, born in 1932, has held no jobs outside of government. He joined the civil service in the 1950s, was elected to Parliament in 1967 and became a junior minister for the first time later that year. He was prime minister in the 1970s and again in the 1980s. Many French people have never known politics without him. In his third volume of memoirs published in October 2006, former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing accused Mr. Chirac, a fellow politician of the center-right, of a double betrayal in the 1981 presidential election, which brought François Mitterrand, the Socialist leader, to power. Instead of supporting Mr. Giscard d’Estaing against Mr. Mitterrand, Mr. Chirac ran as well. Even worse, Mr. Giscard d’Estaing recounts a deathbed conversation in which Mr.

Mitterrand credits his victory in the second round to secret support from Mr. Chirac. Mr. Chirac’s main achievements, many in France believe, were on the world stage. According to a Paris-Match poll in 2006, 78 percent of those polled approved of his handling of foreign affairs. Part of that popularity stems from his opposition to the American-led war in Iraq in 2003, perhaps his best political move. In a 48-page special report on the '‘enigma’' of Mr. Chirac in the journal L’Histoire in 2006, Jean-Luc Parodi, one of France’s leading research directors, suggested that there was only one moment in which Mr. Chirac was '‘totally in balance with French society: when he refused to engage France in the Iraq adventure.’' France’s affection for Mr. Chirac, a politician of Machiavellian talents and personal charm, has grown since he left office. Even if he is found to be guilty of the charges, many French citizens would prefer to see him left alone in his retirement, according to numerous opinion polls.

Jacques Chirac Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Leaders Jacques Chirac Biography Jacques Chirac is the former President & Prime Minister of France. Read this brief biography to find more on his childhood, life & timeline. Quick Facts Politician, Ex-President of France, Ex-Prime Minister of France and Ex-Mayor of Paris Nationality Union pour un Mouvement Populaire Born on Paris Institute of Political Studies Harvard University Grande Ã©cole National School of Administration Image Credit Jacques Chirac is a renowned French politician who rose to prominence for his impeccable contribution in French politics. During his active years, he held important offices in the French administration, including that of Prime Minister from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995 and President of France from 1995 until 2007. This ENA graduate since a young age aimed for a career as a high-profile civil servant and soon paved his way to earn himself a significant place in politics. At the outset of his political career, he served various senior positions including Minister of Agriculture and Minister of the Interior.

No sooner his knack for getting things done made him a favourite with Georges Pompidou who mentored him to gain national prominence in French political circle. And rest as they say is history! Chirac labored to bring forth changes in the economic, social and political arena of the country. For the same, he had been bestowed with highest decoration from the world over including French LÃ©gion d'honneur, National Order of Merit, Cross for Military Valor, Aeronautical Medal, Order of Agricultural Merit and Order of Arts and Letters. Take a sneak peek into the article to further equip yourself with details about his life and profile. Childhood & Early Life Jacques Chirac was born in a Roman Catholic family to Abel Franï¿½ois Chirac and Marie-Louise Valette. While his father was employed with an aircraft company, his mother was a homemaker. He acquired his basic education in Paris from Lycï¿½e Carnot and Lycï¿½e Louis-le-Grand. In the 1950s, he took to pursue a career in civil services. For the same, he continued his academic career graduating from Paris Institute of Political Science in 1953.

After a short stint at Harvard Universityâs summer school, he enrolled at the Grande ï¿½cole National School of Administration (ENA) in 1957. Two years of rigorous training to rank amongst Franceâs best civil servants paid off as he was appointed as a civil servant in the Court of Auditors Career Year 1962 marked his foray into politics as he gained himself the position of the head of the personal staff of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou. His knack for getting things done made him Pompidou favourite and earned him the nickname, âLe Bulldozerâ. Five years later, in 1967, he contested as a Gaullist for a seat in National Assembly on the recommendation of Pompidou. Emerging victorious, he was elected deputy for his home Corrï¿½ze department. During the end of 1960s, he took up various roles, serving as he state secretary of economy from 1968 until 1971, and Minister for Relations with the Parliament from 1971 until 1972. Pompidou, by then, had become the President of France.

His first major appointment came in 1972 as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. In the new capacity, he attained immense recognition, which reached its peak when he openly lambasted agricultural policies of other nations as they conflicted with French interests. In February 1974, he was given the office of Minister of Interior. Same year, he started to make preparation for the upcoming presidential elections in 1976 but a tragic untimely death of Pompidou in April 1974 thwarted all efforts. He then extended his support for the non-Gaullist Giscard dâEstaing, who was eventually chosen as Pompidouâs successor. While Estaing became the President of France, he was chosen as the Prime Minister. However, personal and professional differences with Estaing led to his resignation in 1976. Post quitting the Prime Ministership, he set out to reconstitute the Gaullist Union of Democracy into a neo-Gaullist group by the name, Rally of the Republic (RPR).

As the leader of RPR, he gained utmost control over the party and by the following year, he ascended to chair the position of the Mayor of Paris in 1977. He held the post until 1995. It was during his tenure as the mayor that his political influence grew by heaps and bounds. His first attempt for presidential elections was in 1981. The right wing had two leaders in Estaing and himself while the socialist was being led by Francois Mitterrand. Due to split of votes between Estaing and himself, Mitterrand benefitted and was chosen as the President. Eventually, he emerged in the National Assembly as the leader of the right wing opposition against Mitterrand administration. In 1986, he was appointed Prime Minister by Mitterrand. His second term as the Prime Minister was a remarkable one. Responsible for domestic affairs, he carried out various reforms including privatization of major corporations, reduction of taxes and payroll which directly led to more job openings. In the 1988, he made his second attempt for the office of the President by challenging Mitterrand. However, the move paid unfruitful results as he lost to the latter.

The loss propelled him to resign from the cabinet. In 1995, he contested the presidential elections for a third time. Defeating socialist candidate, Lionel Jospin, he finally attained the chair of the President. In his first term at the office, he made severe budgetary cutbacks which gained him wrath from the people. Another controversial move was the permission for recommencement of French nuclear test in the South Pacific. The news caused great disruption and violent demonstration in Tahiti which caused him to take back the grant. Overconfident about his popularity, he called for early elections in 1997 with an aim to gain support for his conservative economic program. The move backfired, as Jospin-led socialist party won the majority, thus weakening his presidency. In 2002, he contested in the presidential elections for a fourth time against controversial far right politicianJean-Marie LePen of National Front. With every other party against LePen, he won the majority in a landslide victory with 82% votes. The second term of his Presidency started on a happy and positive note as it ended the cohabitation of Socialist prime minister.

Capitalizing on the situation, he appointed fellow centre-right politician Jean-Pierre Raffarin to the post. He emerged as the leading voice against Bush administration which wanted to overthrow Saddam Hussein led government in Iraq. He threatened to use veto any new Security Resolution that authorized the use of force. However, his efforts turned in vain as US commissioned war with Iraq. In 2004, he made yet another controversial law that prohibited the wearing of hijab and other religious and symbolic representations by people in French state schools and public corporations. He condemned it as a mark of hostility and believed that the ban would help in augmenting integration in French society. The high unemployment rate caused unrest in the country which led to him declaring a state of emergency. People violently protested against the legislation which made it easier to fire employees, thus causing an abandonment of the legislature. His popularity declined speedily and on March 11, 2007, he announced his decision not to contest in the presidential elections. Following his stepping down as the President, Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded him. Post presidency, he initiated the Foundation Chirac, which aims to strive for peace with its five advocacy programs. He even became a lifetime member of Constitutional Council of France.

Post presidency, he was forced to face trials on numerous charges of corruption as Mayor of Paris. He was convicted in 2011 for misusing public funds and abusing public trust. He has received a two-year suspended sentence. Awards & Achievements For his outstanding contribution in the field of politics, he has been the proud recipient of honorary awards and highest decorations from countries across the globe, few of which including France, Quebec, Lithunian, Austria, Romania, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Latvia, Poland, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Portugal, Norway, and others. Personal Life & Legacy He went into the wedlock with Bernadette Chodron de Courcel, who bore him two daughters, Laurence and Claude. He also has a foster daughter, Anh Dao Traxel. Post presidency, he initiated the organization Foundation Chirac, which aims to strive for peace with its five advocacy programs. He even became a lifetime member of Constitutional Council of France. Trivia This second longest serving President of France received the nickname âLe Bulldozerâ or âMy Bulldozerâ by former Prime Minister and Preside Georges Pompidou, for his knack for getting things done.

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Question: Which politician held the post of Mayor of Paris from March 1977 until May 1995?
Answer: JACQUES CHIRAC