Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
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| Office: | President of France |
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| Term in office: | From May 19, 1974 to May 10, 1981 |
| Preceded by: | Georges Pompidou or Alain Poher (interim) |
| Succeeded by: | François Mitterrand |
| Date of birth: | February 2, 1926 |
| Place of birth: | Koblenz, Germany |
| First Lady: | Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes |
| Party: | Union for French Democracy |
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing, de l'Académie française (born February 2, 1926 in Koblenz, Germany) is a French center-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981.
His tenure as President was marked by his attempts to modernize his country and his office, notably launching such far-reaching infrastucture projects as the high-speed TGV train and France's reliance on nuclear power as its main energy source. However, the economic downturn that followed the end of the "thirty glorious years" after the 1973 energy crisis, the political situation with the unification of the left by François Mitterrand and the rise of up-and-comer Jacques Chirac in the gaullist right, and bad public relations caused his unpopularity to grow at the end of his term, and he failed to secure re-election in 1981.
He is a proponent of the United States of Europe and, having virtually abandoned national politics after his defeat, he became involved with the European Union. He notably chaired the committee that drafted the ill-fated Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. He was elected to the French Academy to the seat that his friend and former President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor held. As former President, he is also entitled to a seat on the Constitutional Council, although he had refused this prerogative until recently.
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Biography
Giscard is the son of Edmond Giscard d'Estaing (1892-1982), a French civil servant, and his wife, May Bardoux, who was a daughter of French senator and academic Jacques Bardoux and a great-granddaughter of French minister of state education Agénor Bardoux.
He studied at Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, Ecole Gerson and Lycées Janson-de-Sailly and Louis-le-Grand in Paris. He graduated from the École Polytechnique and the École nationale d'administration (1949-1951).
Elected in Parliament, as an "independent" (i.e. conservative) in 1951, he was secretary of state for Finances from 1959 to 1962, then minister of Finances and Economic Affairs from 1962 to 1966 under prime minister Georges Pompidou, then minister of Economy and Finances under prime ministers Pierre Messmer and Jacques Chaban-Delmas from 1969 to 1974.
Presidency
Head of pro-gaullist conservatives from 1962 to 1974, he created in 1978 the UDF (Union for French Democracy) in which christian-democrats and conservatives merged.
In 1974, he was elected President of France. His presidency was marked with a desire to introduce various reforms and modernize French society. He for instance pushed for the development of the TGV high speed train network.
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was at first a friend of Jean-Bédel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Republic; he supplied Bokassa's regime with much financial and military backing. However, the growing unpopularity of Bokassa's regime led Giscard to distance himself from Bokassa, and in 1979 French troops helped drive Bokassa out of power and restore former president David Dacko. This was hardly much of a change however, and more of a cosmetic facelift, as d'Estaing's support of Dacko was support for a cousin of Bokassa. Furthermore, Dacko had appointed his cousin Bokassa as head of the Central African Republic's military in the first place in 1965.
In a related incident, Giscard was reported by the Canard Enchaîné to have accepted diamonds as personal gifts from Bokassa--who fled to France with looted millions from Central Africa Republic's treasury, and still Bokassa was accepted in France. Presidential official gifts legally are property of the Republic of France instead of d'Estaing. Giscard supporters contended that the diamonds were industrial-grade and thus had no sizeable monetary value.
Giscard was defeated in the French Presidential Election of 1981. At the time, former Giscard prime minister Jacques Chirac ran against Giscard in the first round of runoff voting and declined to call his voters to elect Giscard. Since then, Giscard has always attributed his defeat to Chirac, and he is widely said to loathe Chirac. Certainly, on many occasions, Giscard has criticized Chirac's policies, despite supporting Chirac's governing coalition.
Later career
From 1986 until 2004 he was the president of the regional council of Auvergne. In this position, he tried to encourage tourism to the région, founding the "European Centre of Volcanology" and theme park Vulcania — a much maligned decision, since this park loses money and is often described as a white elephant.
Following from his defeat in the regional elections of March 2004, he decided to leave partisan politics and to take his seat in the Constitutional Council as a former president of the Republic. Some of his actions there, such as the one to campaign in favor of the Treaty establishing the European Constitution, were criticized as unbecoming to a member of this council, which should embody nonpartisanship and should not appear to favor one political option over the other. Indeed, the question of the membership of former presidents in the Council was raised at this point, with some suggesting that it should be replaced by a life membership in the French Senate.
In 2003, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was admitted to the Académie française, amid controversy; critics pointed out that Giscard had written only a single novel, Le Passage, of dubious quality.
He is currently serving as:
- President of the CEMR (Council of European Municipalities and Regions)
- A member of the Académie française (French Academy)
- As a de jure member of the French Constitutional Council
European activities
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has, throughout his political career, always been a proponent of greater European integration. In 1978, he was for this reason the obvious target of Jacques Chirac's Call of Cochin, denouncing the "party of the foreigners".
From 2002-2003 he served as President of the Convention on the Future of Europe.
On 29 October 2004, the European heads of state, gathered in Rome, approved and signed the European Constitution based on a draft strongly influenced by Giscard's work at the Convention.
Giscard opposes Turkey joining the European Union, saying to French Newspaper Le Monde, "In my opinion, it would be the end of Europe."
Personal
His name is often shortened to "Giscard" or even "VGE" by the French media. A less flattering nickname is l'Ex (the Ex), as he is, as of 2005, the only surviving former president of France and he is generally considered to be bitter about his failure to be re-elected.
On December 17, 1952, Giscard married Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes, a daughter of the Marquis de Brantes and his wife, Princess Aymone de Faucigny-Lucinge. They have four children: Valérie-Anne, Henri, Louis and Jacinte.
In 2003 he received the Charlemagne Award of the German city of Aachen.
He is an uncle of French artist Aurore Giscard d'Estaing, who is married to the American actor Timothy Hutton.
| Preceded by: Wilfrid Baumgartner |
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs 1962–1966 |
Succeeded by: Michel Debré |
| Preceded by: — |
President of the National Federation of Republicans and Independents 1966–1974 |
Succeeded by: Michel Poniatowski |
| Preceded by: François-Xavier Ortoli |
Minister of the Economy and Finance 1969–1974 |
Succeeded by: Jean-Pierre Fourcade |
| Preceded by: Georges Pompidou |
President of France 1974–1981 |
Succeeded by: François Mitterrand |
| Preceded by: Georges Pompidou and Joan Martí Alanis |
Co-Prince of Andorra 1974–1981 with Joan Martí Alanis |
Succeeded by: François Mitterrand and Joan Martí Alanis |
| Preceded by: Jean Lecanuet |
President of the Union for French Democracy 1988–1996 |
Succeeded by: François Léotard |
| Preceded by: Léopold Sédar Senghor |
Seat 16 Académie française 2003- |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Current members of the Constitutional Council of France |  |
| President of the Council | |
| Members
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | Simone Veil | Jean-Claude Colliard |
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* as of 2005 |
