Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

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.

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.

Related Topics:
Edmond Giscard d'Estaing - 1892 - 1982 - May Bardoux - Jacques Bardoux - Agénor Bardoux

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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).

Related Topics:
Lycé - Clermont-Ferrand - Ecole Gerson - Janson-de-Sailly - Louis-le-Grand - Paris - École Polytechnique - École nationale d'administration - 1949 - 1951

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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.

Related Topics:
1959 - 1962 - Minister of Finances and Economic Affairs - 1966 - Georges Pompidou - Pierre Messmer - Jacques Chaban-Delmas - 1969 - 1974

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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.

Related Topics:
1978 - UDF

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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.

Related Topics:
President of France - TGV

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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.

Related Topics:
Jean-Bédel Bokassa - Central African Republic - 1979 - David Dacko

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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.

Related Topics:
Canard Enchaîné - Diamond

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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.

Related Topics:
French Presidential Election of 1981 - Jacques Chirac - Runoff voting

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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.

Related Topics:
1986 - 2004 - President of the regional council - Auvergne - Tourism - Région - Theme park - Vulcania - White elephant

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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.

Related Topics:
Regional elections of March 2004 - Constitutional Council - French Senate

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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.

Related Topics:
2003 - Académie française

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He is currently serving as:

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• 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".

Related Topics:
1978 - Jacques Chirac - Call of Cochin

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From 2002-2003 he served as President of the Convention on the Future of Europe.

Related Topics:
2002 - 2003 - Convention on the Future of Europe

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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.

Related Topics:
29 October - 2004 - European - Rome - European Constitution

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Giscard opposes Turkey joining the European Union, saying to French Newspaper Le Monde, "In my opinion, it would be the end of Europe."

Related Topics:
Turkey - European Union - Le Monde

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