Jacques Chirac

In 1959, after completing studies at the École Nationale d'Administration, Jacques Chirac entered high-level civil service, then soon entered politics. He has since occupied various high-level positions, such as minister of agriculture, prime minister, mayor of Paris, and finally president of France.

Prime minister, 1974-76

When Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became president, Chirac was nominated as prime minister by Giscard 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.

Related Topics:
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - Prime minister - 27 May - 1974

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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 des Démocrates pour la République (UDR), saw in the essentially pragmatic Chirac the qualities needed to reconcile the "Giscardian" and "non-Giscardian" factions of the parliamentary majority.

Related Topics:
François Mitterrand - 1974 - Union des Démocrates pour la République

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - 1976 - Rally for the Republic

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