Chirac, France’s charming statesman

Jessica Camille Aguirre Jacques Chirac, former president of France who died on Thursday at the age of 86, was buoyed by his rakish charm during apolitical career that he forged through troubled water before seeing his legacy revived during his later years. Chirac, who held France’s highest political office from 1995 to 2007 and oversaw the country’s economy struggle as riots erupted in urban outskirts, embodied a style of both effortless leadership and adroit discretion that became iconic. Born on November 29, 1932 in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, Chirac was the son of business executive Francois Chirac and Marie-Louise Valette. As an adult, he became instantly recognisable for his stature of nearly two metres, self-assured aspect and good looks. Chirac spent three years as a civil servant before he was plucked by then-prime minister Georges Pompidou to act as his head of staff. Pompidou, who was to become a long-term mentor for the rising political star, dubbed Chirac “the bulldozer” for his hard-headed persistence in getting things done. Chirac’s first political campaign, encouraged by Pompidou, was organised in the south-western part of France, in a region called the Correze, his family’s ancestral region. He wanted to align himself with the people of the provinces, and eschew the high sheen of Parisian politics. The gamble paid off, and Chirac won himself a seat in the National Assembly. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed a relatively minor cabinet position under Pompidou and steadily rose up the ranks within the government. In 1972 he was named to his first major public post, as minister for agriculture and rural development. Just two years later, Chirac took over the Interior Ministry — but his stay there was short-lived. In 1974, Pompidou, by then president, died after nearly five years in office. A fierce campaign ensued, eventually giving rise to a new government formed under Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who appointed Chirac as his prime minister. A cleave between Chirac and Giscard, over policies and the balance of power, prompted Chirac to resign in 1976 and launch a campaign for the mayorship of Paris. It was during this time, as well as Chirac’s tenure as mayor through 1995, that the bulldozer honed his political ideas and developed what he called a neo-Gaullist platform. Advocating a strong independent French state with a powerful executive and nuclear capacity, based loosely on the stance formed by Charles de Gaulle after World War II, Chirac started a political party that became the predecessor to Les Republicaines. Positioning himself against Giscard in the presidential elections of 1981, Chirac split the right and laid the path for Socialist Francois Mitterrand’s win, going on to become Mitterrand’s prime minister in a power-sharing deal. During his tenure, he pursued economic liberalisation policies. After losing the presidency to Mitterrand in 1988, Chirac left the cabinet and would not return to the executive until winning the top office in the next election five years later, running on a platform that was more critical of neoliberal economic policies and famously targeting France’s “social fracture” as one of the key targets of his campaign. During his two presidential terms, the latter of which he won in the second round against the National Front’s Jean-Marie Le Pen, Chirac oversaw troubled economic turns, including persistent unemployment, and riots that broke out in suburban neighbourhoods against racism and disenfranchisement. He was lambasted for nuclear tests carried out in French Polynesia, one year before a test ban treaty was set to be signed. Chirac was also a staunch opponent of the Iraq War, warning that the invasion would lead to destabilization in the Middle East. While Chirac’s record during his political career was mixed, he became a symbol for a certain style of French savoir faire and easy refinement during his retirement. Asked to explain his popularity in June, 2016, his daughter, Claude, told Le Parisien newspaper that, “People are by nature a little nostalgic. And also, Chirac really resembles the French, in their qualities and their faults.” — dpa