Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Encyclopedia
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing (valeʁi maʁi ʁəne ʒɔʁʒ ʒiskaʁ dɛstɛ̃; born 2 February 1926) is a French centre
-right
politician who was President of the French Republic
from 1974 until 1981. , he is a member of the Constitutional Council of France
.
His tenure as President was marked by a more liberal attitude on social issues – such as divorce
, contraception
, and abortion
– and attempts to modernize the country and the office of the presidency, notably launching such far-reaching infrastructure projects as the high-speed TGV
train and the turn towards reliance on nuclear power
as France's main energy source. However, his popularity suffered from the economic downturn that followed the 1973 energy crisis, marking the end of the "thirty glorious years
" after World War II
, combined with the official discourse that the "end of the tunnel was near".
Giscard faced political opposition from both sides of the spectrum: from the newly unified left of François Mitterrand
, and from a rising Jacques Chirac
, who resurrected Gaullism
on a right-wing opposition line. All this, as well as 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 limited his involvement in national politics after his defeat, he became involved with the European Union
. He notably presided over the Convention on the Future of the European Union that drafted the ill-fated Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
. He took part, with a prominent role, in the annually held Bilderberg private conference.
He also became involved in the regional politics of Auvergne
, serving as president of that region from 1986 to 2004. He was elected to the French Academy, taking the seat that his friend and former President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor
had held. As a former President, he is a member of the Constitutional Council
. It is a prerogative that he has taken recently.
, Germany
, during the French occupation of the Rhineland
. He is the elder son of Jean Edmond Lucien Giscard d'Estaing (1894–1982), a civil servant, and his wife, Marthe Clémence Jacqueline Marie (May) Bardoux, who was a daughter of senator and academic Achille Octave Marie Jacques Bardoux and a great-granddaughter of minister of state education Agénor Bardoux
, also a granddaughter of historian Georges Picot
and niece of diplomat François Georges-Picot
, and also a great-great-great-granddaughter of King Louis XV of France
by one of his mistress
es, Catherine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769) through his great-grandfather Marthe Camille Bachasson, Count of Montalivet, and by whom Giscard d'Estaing was a multiple descendant of Charlemagne
.
Giscard had an older sister, Sylvie (1924–2008). He has a younger brother, Olivier
, as well as two younger sisters: Isabelle (born 1935) and Marie-Laure (born 1939). Despite the addition of "d'Estaing" to the family name by his grandfather, Giscard is not descended from the extinct noble family of Vice-Admiral d'Estaing
, that name being adopted by his grandfather in 1922 by reason of a distant connection to another branch of that family, from which they were descended with two breaks in the male line from an illegitimate line of the Viscounts d'Estaing.
In 1948, he spent a year in Montreal
where he worked as a teacher in Collège Stanislas
.
He studied at Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand
, École 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). He acceded to the Tax and Revenue Service, then joined the staff of Prime Minister Edgar Faure
(1955–1956).
as a deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme
département, in the domain of his maternal family. He joined the National Centre of Independents and Peasants
(CNIP), a conservative grouping. After the proclamation of the Fifth Republic
, the CNIP leader Antoine Pinay
became Minister of Economy and Finance and chose him as Secretary of State for Finances from 1959 to 1962.
, his party broke with the Gaullists and left the majority coalition. The CNIP reproached President Charles de Gaulle
with his euro-scepticism. But Giscard refused to resign and founded the Independent Republicans
(RI). It was the small partner of the Gaullists in the "presidential majority".
However, in 1966, he was dismissed from the cabinet. He changed the RI in a political party, the National Federation of the Independent Republicans
(FNRI), and founded the Perspectives and Realities Clubs
. He did not leave the majority but became more critical. In this, he criticised the "solitary practice of the power" and summarised his position towards De Gaulle's policy by a "yes, but...". Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finances
, he harassed his successor in the cabinet.
For that reason the Gaullists refused to re-elect him in this function after the 1968 legislative election
. In 1969, unlike most of FNRI’s elected officials, he advocated a "no" vote in the referendum about the regions and the Senate, while De Gaulle had announced his intention to resign if the "no" won. The Gaullists accused him of being largely responsible for De Gaulle's departure.
During the 1969 presidential campaign
, he supported the winning candidate Georges Pompidou
and returned to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. On the French political scene, he appeared as a young brilliant politician, and a preeminent expert in economic issues. He was representative of a new generation of politicians emerging from the senior civil service, whose profile was as "technocrats".
In 1974, after the sudden death of President Pompidou, he announced his candidacy for the presidency. His two main challengers were François Mitterrand
for the left and Jacques Chaban-Delmas
, a former Gaullist prime minister. Supported by his FNRI party, he obtained the rallying of the centrist Reforming Movement
. Moreover, he benefited from the divisions in the Gaullist party. Jacques Chirac
and other Gaullist personalities published the "Call of the 43" where they explained Giscard was the best candidate to prevent the election of Mitterrand. Giscard crushed Chaban-Delmas in the first round, and then on 20 May narrowly defeated Mitterrand in the second, receiving 50.7% of the vote.
. He promised "change in continuity". He made clear his desire to introduce various reforms and modernise French society, which was an important part of his presidency. He for instance reduced from 21 to 18 the age of majority
and pushed for the development of the TGV
high speed train network and the Minitel
, a prehistoric version of the Internet. In 1975, he invited the heads of government from West Germany
, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet
, to form the Group of Six (now the G8
, including Canada and Russia) major economic powers.
He pursued a controversial course in foreign policy. In 1977, in the Opération Lamantin
, he ordered fighter jets to deploy in Mauritania and go to war against the Polisario guerillas fighting against Mauritanian military occupation
of Western Sahara
. But not even overt military backing proved sufficient to rescue the French-installed Mauritanian leader Mokhtar Ould Daddah, as he was overthrown by his own army some time later, and a peace agreement was signed with the Sahrawi
resistance
.
Most controversial, however, was his involvement with the Bokassa regime of the Central African Republic and with a diamond smuggling scandal involving the dictator, by which he personally profited. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was at first a friend of its ruler, Jean-Bédel Bokassa
; he supplied Bokassa's regime with much financial and military backing. However, the growing unpopularity of that government led Giscard to begin distancing himself from Bokassa.
In 1979 French troops helped drive Bokassa out of power and restore former president David Dacko
. This action was also controversial, particularly since Dacko was Bokassa’s cousin and had appointed Bokassa as head of the military, and unrest continued in the Central African Republic, leading to Dacko being overthrown in another coup in 1981.
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 the Central African Republic's treasury, but was still given asylum
in France. Legally, official gifts to the President are property of the Republic of France, not the President; Giscard supporters contended that the diamonds were industrial-grade and thus had no sizeable monetary value.
In home policy, the president’s reforms worried the conservative electorate and the Gaullist party. A rivalry appeared with his prime minister Jacques Chirac, who resigned in 1976. Raymond Barre
, called the "best economist in France", succeeded him. He led a policy of strictness in a context of economic crisis (Plan Barre). Unemployment grew.
Unexpectedly, the right-wing coalition won the 1978 legislative election
. Nevertheless, relations with Chirac, who had founded the Rally for the Republic
(RPR), became more tense. VGE reacted by founding a centre-right confederation, the Union for French Democracy
(UDF).
Giscard was defeated in the 1981 presidential election
by Mitterrand
. At the time, Chirac ran against Giscard in the first round of runoff voting
and declined to call his voters to elect Giscard, though he declared that he himself would vote for 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 criticised Chirac's policies, despite supporting Chirac's governing coalition.
Although he said he had "deep aversion against capital punishment" and in his 1974 campaign proclaimed his opposition to the death penalty, he did not commute three of the death sentences that he had to decide upon during his presidency (although he did so in several other occasions), keeping France as the last country in the European Union to apply the death penalty. These executions would be the last ever in France.
After his defeat, he retired temporarily from politics. In 1984, he regained his seat in Parliament and won the presidency 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
.
In 1982, along with his friend Gerald Ford
, he co-founded the annual AEI World Forum
.
He hoped to become prime minister of France during the first "cohabitation
" (1986–88) or after the reelection of Mitterrand with the theme of "France united", but he was not chosen for this position. During the 1988 presidential campaign
, he refused to choose publicly between the two right-wing candidates, his two former Prime Ministers Jacques Chirac
and Raymond Barre
. This attitude was interpreted as indicating that he wanted to regain the UDF leadership.
Indeed, he served as President of the UDF from 1988 to 1996, but he was faced with the rise of a new generation of politicians called the "renovationmen". Most of the UDF politicians supported the candidacy of the RPR Prime minister Édouard Balladur
at the 1995 presidential election
, but Giscard supported his old rival Jacques Chirac, who won the election. That same year Giscard suffered a humiliating defeat when he was defeated in a bid for the mayoralty of Clermont-Ferrand
.
In 2000, he made a parliamentary proposal to reduce the length of a presidential term from 7 to 5 years. President Chirac held a referendum on this issue, and the "yes" side won. He did not run for a new parliamentary term in 2002. His son Louis Giscard d'Estaing
was elected in his constituency.
Following 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 his campaign in favour of the Treaty establishing the European Constitution, were criticised as unbecoming to a member of this council, which should embody nonpartisanship and should not appear to favour 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 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 has also served on the Trilateral Commission
after being president, writing papers with Henry Kissinger
.
He is currently serving as:
's Call of Cochin
, denouncing the "party of the foreigners".
From 1989 to 1995, Giscard d'Estaing served as a member of the European Parliament
. From 1989 to 1991, he was also chairman of the Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group
.
From 2002 to 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.
Although the Constitution was rejected by French voters in May 2005, Giscard continued to actively lobby for its passage in other European Union states. Speaking at the London School of Economics
on 28 February 2006, he said that, "The rejection of the Constitutional treaty by voters in France was a mistake that should be corrected."
From 2008 he is the Honorary President of the Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture
, an innovative structure composed of some of the most authoritative universities, newspapers and businesses in Europe for the selection, exchange and dissemination of the most innovative European research, to increase the movement of knowledge across borders, across sectors and to the public at large. On 27 November 2009 he publicly launched the Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture during its first conference, held
at the European Parliament, declaring that "European intelligence could be at the very root of the identity of the European people"
. A few days before he signed, together with the President of Atomium Culture Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini
, the European Manifesto of Atomium Culture.
and published in that newspaper on 15 June 2007, that "public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals we dare not present to them directly", was consistently highlighted by "No" campaigners as evidence of an alleged insidious agenda to fool the European public into accepting the text. Although the quote is accurate, it was part of a critique, taken out of context, of a suggestion made by some unnamed persons. In the next paragraph Giscard goes on to reject the idea of this course of action by saying, "This approach of 'divide and ratify' is clearly unacceptable. Perhaps it is a good exercise in presentation. But it would confirm to European citizens the notion that European construction is a procedure organised behind their backs by lawyers and diplomats."
In the following paragraphs he goes on to appeal for an "honest treaty" and "total transparency" to allow citizens to hear the debate for themselves.
Member of the Constitutional Council of France
: Since 2004.
Governmental functions
Secretary of State for Finances : 1959–1962.
Minister of Finances and Economic Affairs : 1962–1966.
Minister of Economy and Finances : 1969–1974.
Minister of State, minister of Economy and Finances : March–May 1974 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1974)
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament
: 1989–1993 (Reelected member of the National Assembly of France in 1993).
National Assembly of France
Member of the National Assembly of France for Puy-de-Dôme
: 1956–1959 (Became minister in 1959) / Reelected in 1962, but he stays minister / 1967–1969 (Became minister in 1969) / Reelected in 1973, but he stays minister / 1984–1989 (Became member of European Parliament
in 1989) / 1993–2002. Elected in 1956, reelected in 1958, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1973.
Regional Council
President of the Regional Council of Auvergne (region)
: 1986–2004. Reelected in 1992, 1998.
Regional councillor of Auvergne (region)
: 1986–2004. Reelected in 1992, 1998.
General Council
General councillor of Puy-de-Dôme
: 1958–1974 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1974) / 1982–1988 (Resignation). Reelected in 1964, 1970, 1982.
Municipal Council
Mayor of Chamalières
: 1967–1974 (Resignation, Became President of the French Republic in 1974). Reelected in 1971.
Municipal councillor of Chamalières
: 1967–1977. Reelected in 1971.
Political functions
President of the National Federation of the Independent Republicans (Independent Republicans
) : 1966–1974 (Became President of the French Republic in 1974).
President of the Union for French Democracy
: 1988–1996.
. He was the only surviving ex-president since he left office until the end of Jacques Chirac
's term on 16 May 2007, with the exception of a brief period between François Mitterrand's retirement in 1995 and death in early 1996.
On 17 December 1952, Giscard married his cousin Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes
, a daughter of Count François Sauvage de Brantes, who died in a concentration camp in 1944, and his wife, the former Princess Aymone de Faucigny-Lucinge. Their children are: Valérie-Anne, Henri
(Edmond Marie Valéry), Louis
(Joachim Marie François) and Jacinte (Marguerite Marie). Louis is a French conservative Representative; Henri is the President of the tourism company Club Méditerranée
.
Giscard's private life was the source of many rumors at both national and international level. His family did not live in the presidential palace with him and his nocturnal escapades were reported by publications such as Le Monde
, The Economist
and the International Herald Tribune
. In 1974, Le Monde reported that he used to leave a sealed letter stating his whereabouts in case of emergency.
In 2003 he received the Charlemagne Award of the German city of Aachen
. He is also a Knight of Malta.
He is an uncle of artist Aurore Giscard d'Estaing, who was married to American actor Timothy Hutton
.
He travels the world giving speeches on European union. During a visit to Ireland, d'Estaing was made an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin
.
In 2005 he and his brother bought the castle of Estaing
, a famous place in the French district of Aveyron and formerly a possession of the above mentioned admiral d'Estaing who was beheaded in 1794. The castle is not used as a residence but it has symbolic value. The two brothers explained that the purchase, supported by the local municipality, is an act of patronage. However a number of major newspapers in several countries questioned their motives and some hinted at self-appointed nobility and a usurped historical identity.
Giscard wrote his second romantic novel, published on 1 October 2009 in France, entitled The Princess and The President. It tells the story of a French head of state having a romantic liaison with a character called Patricia, Princess of Cardiff. This fuelled rumours that the piece of fiction was based on a real-life liaison between Giscard and Diana, Princess of Wales
. He later stressed that the story was entirely made up and no such affair had happened.
|-
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
-right
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
politician who was President of the French Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
from 1974 until 1981. , he is a member of the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
.
His tenure as President was marked by a more liberal attitude on social issues – such as divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
, and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
– and attempts to modernize the country and the office of the presidency, notably launching such far-reaching infrastructure projects as the high-speed TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
train and the turn towards reliance on nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
as France's main energy source. However, his popularity suffered from the economic downturn that followed the 1973 energy crisis, marking the end of the "thirty glorious years
Trente Glorieuses
Les Trente Glorieuses refers to the thirty years from 1945-1975 following the end of the Second World War in France. The name was first used by the French demographer Jean Fourastié...
" after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, combined with the official discourse that the "end of the tunnel was near".
Giscard faced political opposition from both sides of the spectrum: from the newly unified left of François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, and from a rising Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, who resurrected Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
on a right-wing opposition line. All this, as well as bad public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
, 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
United States of Europe
Since the 1950s, European integration has seen the development of a supranational system of governance, as its institutions move further from the concept of simple intergovernmentalism. However, with the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, new intergovernmental elements have been introduced alongside the...
and, having limited his involvement in national politics after his defeat, he became involved with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. He notably presided over the Convention on the Future of the European Union that drafted the ill-fated Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
. He took part, with a prominent role, in the annually held Bilderberg private conference.
He also became involved in the regional politics of Auvergne
Auvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...
, serving as president of that region from 1986 to 2004. He was elected to the French Academy, taking the seat that his friend and former President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
had held. As a former President, he is a member of the Constitutional Council
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
. It is a prerogative that he has taken recently.
Early life
Valéry Marie René Giscard d'Estaing was born in KoblenzKoblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, Germany
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, during the French occupation of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. He is the elder son of Jean Edmond Lucien Giscard d'Estaing (1894–1982), a civil servant, and his wife, Marthe Clémence Jacqueline Marie (May) Bardoux, who was a daughter of senator and academic Achille Octave Marie Jacques Bardoux and a great-granddaughter of minister of state education Agénor Bardoux
Agénor Bardoux
Agénor Bardoux was a French statesman and republican, son of Jacques Bardoux and wife Thérèse Pignet Agénor Bardoux (Bourges, Cher, 15 January 1829–Paris, 23 November 1897) was a French statesman and republican, son of Jacques Bardoux (Moulins, 3 February 1795 - Clermont-Ferrand, 8 January...
, also a granddaughter of historian Georges Picot
Georges Picot
Georges Marie René Picot was a French lawyer and historian.Born in Paris, son of Charles Picot and wife Henriette Bidois , his main work is Histoire des États généraux for which he twice gained the prize of the French Academy...
and niece of diplomat François Georges-Picot
François Georges-Picot
François Marie Denis Georges-Picot , son of historian Georges Picot and grand-uncle of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, was a French diplomat who signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement during World War I, with the Englishman, Sir Mark Sykes, dividing up the Ottoman Empire into British, French and, later,...
, and also a great-great-great-granddaughter of King Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
by one of his mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
es, Catherine Eléonore Bernard (1740–1769) through his great-grandfather Marthe Camille Bachasson, Count of Montalivet, and by whom Giscard d'Estaing was a multiple descendant of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
.
Giscard had an older sister, Sylvie (1924–2008). He has a younger brother, Olivier
Olivier Giscard d'Estaing
Dr. Olivier Giscard d'Estaing, born in Paris, December 30, 1927, is chairman of the Committee for a World Parliament. The brother of former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is the Founding Dean and Director General of the INSEAD business school and Governor of the Atlantic Institute.He has served...
, as well as two younger sisters: Isabelle (born 1935) and Marie-Laure (born 1939). Despite the addition of "d'Estaing" to the family name by his grandfather, Giscard is not descended from the extinct noble family of Vice-Admiral d'Estaing
Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...
, that name being adopted by his grandfather in 1922 by reason of a distant connection to another branch of that family, from which they were descended with two breaks in the male line from an illegitimate line of the Viscounts d'Estaing.
In 1948, he spent a year in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
where he worked as a teacher in Collège Stanislas
Collège Stanislas (Quebec)
Collège Stanislas in Sainte-Foy and Outremont, Quebec is an exclusive French language private education institution for boys and girls aged 4 to 18 years.-History:...
.
He studied at Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
, École Gerson and Lycées Janson-de-Sailly and Louis-le-Grand
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
in Paris. He graduated from the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
and the École nationale d'administration
École nationale d'administration
The École Nationale d'Administration , one of the most prestigious of French graduate schools , was created in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle to democratise access to the senior civil service. It is now entrusted with the selection and initial training of senior French officials...
(1949–1951). He acceded to the Tax and Revenue Service, then joined the staff of Prime Minister Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
(1955–1956).
Member of National Assembly
In 1956, he was elected to ParliamentFrench National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
as a deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
département, in the domain of his maternal family. He joined the National Centre of Independents and Peasants
National Centre of Independents and Peasants
The National Centre of Independents and Peasants is a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal political party in France, founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents with the...
(CNIP), a conservative grouping. After the proclamation of the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
, the CNIP leader Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay |Rhône]], France – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:As a young man, Pinay fought in World War I and injured his arm so that it was paralyzed for the rest of his life....
became Minister of Economy and Finance and chose him as Secretary of State for Finances from 1959 to 1962.
In government
In 1962, while Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had been nominated Minister of Economy and FinanceMinister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (France)
The Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment , or Minister of Finance for short, is one of the most prominent positions in the cabinet of France after the Prime Minister....
, his party broke with the Gaullists and left the majority coalition. The CNIP reproached President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
with his euro-scepticism. But Giscard refused to resign and founded the Independent Republicans
Independent Republicans
The Independent Republicans were a French liberal-conservative political group founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 . The leader was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
(RI). It was the small partner of the Gaullists in the "presidential majority".
However, in 1966, he was dismissed from the cabinet. He changed the RI in a political party, the National Federation of the Independent Republicans
Independent Republicans
The Independent Republicans were a French liberal-conservative political group founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 . The leader was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
(FNRI), and founded the Perspectives and Realities Clubs
Perspectives and Realities Clubs
The National Federation of Perspectives and Realities Clubs was a centrist political movement in France....
. He did not leave the majority but became more critical. In this, he criticised the "solitary practice of the power" and summarised his position towards De Gaulle's policy by a "yes, but...". Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finances
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, he harassed his successor in the cabinet.
For that reason the Gaullists refused to re-elect him in this function after the 1968 legislative election
French legislative election, 1968
- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...
. In 1969, unlike most of FNRI’s elected officials, he advocated a "no" vote in the referendum about the regions and the Senate, while De Gaulle had announced his intention to resign if the "no" won. The Gaullists accused him of being largely responsible for De Gaulle's departure.
During the 1969 presidential campaign
French presidential election, 1969
The 1969 French presidential election took place on 1 June and 15 June 1969. It occurred due to the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle on 28 April 1969. Indeed, De Gaulle had decided to consult the voters by referendum about regionalisation and the reform of the Senate, and he had announced...
, he supported the winning candidate Georges Pompidou
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
and returned to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. On the French political scene, he appeared as a young brilliant politician, and a preeminent expert in economic issues. He was representative of a new generation of politicians emerging from the senior civil service, whose profile was as "technocrats".
In 1974, after the sudden death of President Pompidou, he announced his candidacy for the presidency. His two main challengers were François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
for the left and Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. In addition, for almost half a century, he was Mayor of Bordeaux and a deputy for the Gironde département....
, a former Gaullist prime minister. Supported by his FNRI party, he obtained the rallying of the centrist Reforming Movement
Reforming Movement
The Reforming Movement was a French centrist political group created in 1972 by the alliance between the Radical Party led by Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber and the Christian-democratic Democratic Centre headed by Jean Lecanuet....
. Moreover, he benefited from the divisions in the Gaullist party. Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
and other Gaullist personalities published the "Call of the 43" where they explained Giscard was the best candidate to prevent the election of Mitterrand. Giscard crushed Chaban-Delmas in the first round, and then on 20 May narrowly defeated Mitterrand in the second, receiving 50.7% of the vote.
Presidency
In 1974, he was elected President of France at 48, the third youngest president in French history, after Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and Jean Casimir-PerierJean Casimir-Perier
Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier was a French politician, fifth president of the French Third Republic.-Biography:He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier and the grandson of Casimir Pierre Perier, premier of Louis Philippe...
. He promised "change in continuity". He made clear his desire to introduce various reforms and modernise French society, which was an important part of his presidency. He for instance reduced from 21 to 18 the age of majority
Age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
and pushed for the development of the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
high speed train network and the Minitel
Minitel
The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT...
, a prehistoric version of the Internet. In 1975, he invited the heads of government from West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet
Rambouillet
Rambouillet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.It is located in the suburbs of Paris southwest from the center...
, to form the Group of Six (now the G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
, including Canada and Russia) major economic powers.
He pursued a controversial course in foreign policy. In 1977, in the Opération Lamantin
Opération Lamantin
Opération Lamatin was a December 1977 – July 1978 military intervention by France on the behalf of the Mauritanian government, in its war against Sahrawi guerrilla fighters of the Polisario Front, seeking independence for Western Sahara.-Background:...
, he ordered fighter jets to deploy in Mauritania and go to war against the Polisario guerillas fighting against Mauritanian military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
. But not even overt military backing proved sufficient to rescue the French-installed Mauritanian leader Mokhtar Ould Daddah, as he was overthrown by his own army some time later, and a peace agreement was signed with the Sahrawi
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
.
Most controversial, however, was his involvement with the Bokassa regime of the Central African Republic and with a diamond smuggling scandal involving the dictator, by which he personally profited. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was at first a friend of its ruler, Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Jean-Bédel Bokassa , a military officer, was the head of state of the Central African Republic and its successor state, the Central African Empire, from his coup d'état on 1 January 1966 until 20 September 1979...
; he supplied Bokassa's regime with much financial and military backing. However, the growing unpopularity of that government led Giscard to begin distancing himself from Bokassa.
In 1979 French troops helped drive Bokassa out of power and restore former president David Dacko
David Dacko
David Dacko was the first President of the Central African Republic , from August 14, 1960 to January 1, 1966, and the third president of the CAR from September 21, 1979 to September 1, 1981...
. This action was also controversial, particularly since Dacko was Bokassa’s cousin and had appointed Bokassa as head of the military, and unrest continued in the Central African Republic, leading to Dacko being overthrown in another coup in 1981.
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 the Central African Republic's treasury, but was still given asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in France. Legally, official gifts to the President are property of the Republic of France, not the President; Giscard supporters contended that the diamonds were industrial-grade and thus had no sizeable monetary value.
In home policy, the president’s reforms worried the conservative electorate and the Gaullist party. A rivalry appeared with his prime minister Jacques Chirac, who resigned in 1976. Raymond Barre
Raymond Barre
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three Presidents and later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981...
, called the "best economist in France", succeeded him. He led a policy of strictness in a context of economic crisis (Plan Barre). Unemployment grew.
Unexpectedly, the right-wing coalition won the 1978 legislative election
French legislative election, 1978
The French legislative elections took place on 12 March and 19 March 1978 to elect the 6th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.On 2 April 1974 President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected to succeed him...
. Nevertheless, relations with Chirac, who had founded the Rally for the Republic
Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
(RPR), became more tense. VGE reacted by founding a centre-right confederation, the Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
(UDF).
Giscard was defeated in the 1981 presidential election
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
by Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. At the time, Chirac ran against Giscard in the first round of runoff voting
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
and declined to call his voters to elect Giscard, though he declared that he himself would vote for 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 criticised Chirac's policies, despite supporting Chirac's governing coalition.
Although he said he had "deep aversion against capital punishment" and in his 1974 campaign proclaimed his opposition to the death penalty, he did not commute three of the death sentences that he had to decide upon during his presidency (although he did so in several other occasions), keeping France as the last country in the European Union to apply the death penalty. These executions would be the last ever in France.
After 1981 defeat
Auvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...
. In this position, he tried to encourage tourism to the région
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
, founding the "European Centre of Volcanology" and theme park Vulcania
Vulcania
Vulcania, the "European Park of Volcanism", is a park with a Volcano theme situated in Saint-Ours-les-Roches, Auvergne, France.Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France, pushed for the foundation of the park while he was president of the regional council of Auvergne...
.
In 1982, along with his friend Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, he co-founded the annual AEI World Forum
AEI World Forum
The AEI World Forum is an annual meeting of business and financial executives, heads of government, government officials, and intellectuals. Held every summer in Beaver Creek, Colorado, it is sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute and the Vail Valley Foundation, and it features a number of...
.
He hoped to become prime minister of France during the first "cohabitation
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
" (1986–88) or after the reelection of Mitterrand with the theme of "France united", but he was not chosen for this position. During the 1988 presidential campaign
French presidential election, 1988
Presidential elections were held in France on 24 April and 8 May 1988.In 1981, the Socialist Party leader, François Mitterrand, was elected President of France and the Left won the legislative election. However, in 1986, the Right regained a parliamentary majority. President Mitterrand was forced...
, he refused to choose publicly between the two right-wing candidates, his two former Prime Ministers Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
and Raymond Barre
Raymond Barre
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three Presidents and later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981...
. This attitude was interpreted as indicating that he wanted to regain the UDF leadership.
Indeed, he served as President of the UDF from 1988 to 1996, but he was faced with the rise of a new generation of politicians called the "renovationmen". Most of the UDF politicians supported the candidacy of the RPR Prime minister Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
at the 1995 presidential election
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
, but Giscard supported his old rival Jacques Chirac, who won the election. That same year Giscard suffered a humiliating defeat when he was defeated in a bid for the mayoralty of Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
.
In 2000, he made a parliamentary proposal to reduce the length of a presidential term from 7 to 5 years. President Chirac held a referendum on this issue, and the "yes" side won. He did not run for a new parliamentary term in 2002. His son Louis Giscard d'Estaing
Louis Giscard d'Estaing
Louis Giscard d'Estaing is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Puy-de-Dôme department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He is the son of former President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
was elected in his constituency.
Following his defeat in the regional elections of March 2004
French regional elections, 2004
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets...
, he decided to leave partisan politics and to take his seat in the Constitutional Council
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
as a former president of the Republic. Some of his actions there, such as his campaign in favour of the Treaty establishing the European Constitution, were criticised as unbecoming to a member of this council, which should embody nonpartisanship and should not appear to favour 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 Senate
French Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...
.
In 2003, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was admitted to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, amid controversy; critics pointed out that Giscard had written only a single novel, Le Passage, of dubious quality.
He has also served on the Trilateral Commission
Trilateral Commission
The Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
after being president, writing papers with Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
.
He is currently serving as:
- President of the Council of European Municipalities and RegionsCouncil of European Municipalities and RegionsThe Council of European Municipalities and Regions is the largest organisation of local and regional governments in Europe. Its members are national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 39 countries...
- 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 union. In 1978, he was for this reason the obvious target of Jacques ChiracJacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's Call of Cochin
Call of Cochin
The Call of Cochin is a famous discourse published on December 6, 1978 by Jacques Chirac, former Prime Minister of France, president of the Rally for the Republic party, and mayor of Paris....
, denouncing the "party of the foreigners".
From 1989 to 1995, Giscard d'Estaing served as a member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. From 1989 to 1991, he was also chairman of the Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (European Parliament group)
The Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party was a liberal political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1994 and 2004. The group comprised the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and its constituent national-level parties.Its predecessors have existed since...
.
From 2002 to 2003 he served as President of the Convention on the Future of Europe.
On 29 October 2004, the European
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
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.
Although the Constitution was rejected by French voters in May 2005, Giscard continued to actively lobby for its passage in other European Union states. Speaking at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
on 28 February 2006, he said that, "The rejection of the Constitutional treaty by voters in France was a mistake that should be corrected."
From 2008 he is the Honorary President of the Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture
Atomium Culture
Atomium Culture AISBL is an International Non-Profit Organisation thatbrings together major European universities, newspapers and businesses in ashared platform for the selection, exchange, and dissemination ofparticularly significant European research,...
, an innovative structure composed of some of the most authoritative universities, newspapers and businesses in Europe for the selection, exchange and dissemination of the most innovative European research, to increase the movement of knowledge across borders, across sectors and to the public at large. On 27 November 2009 he publicly launched the Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture during its first conference, held
at the European Parliament, declaring that "European intelligence could be at the very root of the identity of the European people"
. A few days before he signed, together with the President of Atomium Culture Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini
Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini
Michelangelo Baracchi Bonvicini is President of the Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture launched publicly together with the former French President and Honorary President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on the 27th of November 2009 at the European Parliament....
, the European Manifesto of Atomium Culture.
Giscard and the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum
Giscard gained some notoriety in the June 2008 Irish vote on the Lisbon Treaty. One quote of his in particular, from an article he wrote for Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
and published in that newspaper on 15 June 2007, that "public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals we dare not present to them directly", was consistently highlighted by "No" campaigners as evidence of an alleged insidious agenda to fool the European public into accepting the text. Although the quote is accurate, it was part of a critique, taken out of context, of a suggestion made by some unnamed persons. In the next paragraph Giscard goes on to reject the idea of this course of action by saying, "This approach of 'divide and ratify' is clearly unacceptable. Perhaps it is a good exercise in presentation. But it would confirm to European citizens the notion that European construction is a procedure organised behind their backs by lawyers and diplomats."
In the following paragraphs he goes on to appeal for an "honest treaty" and "total transparency" to allow citizens to hear the debate for themselves.
Political career
President of the French Republic : 1974–1981.Member of the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...
: Since 2004.
Governmental functions
Secretary of State for Finances : 1959–1962.
Minister of Finances and Economic Affairs : 1962–1966.
Minister of Economy and Finances : 1969–1974.
Minister of State, minister of Economy and Finances : March–May 1974 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1974)
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
: 1989–1993 (Reelected member of the National Assembly of France in 1993).
National Assembly of France
Member of the National Assembly of France for Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
: 1956–1959 (Became minister in 1959) / Reelected in 1962, but he stays minister / 1967–1969 (Became minister in 1969) / Reelected in 1973, but he stays minister / 1984–1989 (Became member of European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in 1989) / 1993–2002. Elected in 1956, reelected in 1958, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1973.
Regional Council
President of the Regional Council of Auvergne (region)
Auvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...
: 1986–2004. Reelected in 1992, 1998.
Regional councillor of Auvergne (region)
Auvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...
: 1986–2004. Reelected in 1992, 1998.
General Council
General councillor of Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
: 1958–1974 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1974) / 1982–1988 (Resignation). Reelected in 1964, 1970, 1982.
Municipal Council
Mayor of Chamalières
Chamalières
Chamalières is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.Chamalières is the third-largest town in the department and lies about from Lyon.-History:...
: 1967–1974 (Resignation, Became President of the French Republic in 1974). Reelected in 1971.
Municipal councillor of Chamalières
Chamalières
Chamalières is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.Chamalières is the third-largest town in the department and lies about from Lyon.-History:...
: 1967–1977. Reelected in 1971.
Political functions
President of the National Federation of the Independent Republicans (Independent Republicans
Independent Republicans
The Independent Republicans were a French liberal-conservative political group founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 . The leader was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
) : 1966–1974 (Became President of the French Republic in 1974).
President of the Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
: 1988–1996.
Personal life
His name is often shortened to "VGE" by the French media. A less flattering nickname is l'Ex (the Ex), used mostly by the weekly satirical newspaper Le Canard enchaînéLe Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
. He was the only surviving ex-president since he left office until the end of Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's term on 16 May 2007, with the exception of a brief period between François Mitterrand's retirement in 1995 and death in early 1996.
On 17 December 1952, Giscard married his cousin Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes
Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes
Anne-Aymone Marie Josèphe Christiane Sauvage de Brantès is the wife of former President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.-Biography:...
, a daughter of Count François Sauvage de Brantes, who died in a concentration camp in 1944, and his wife, the former Princess Aymone de Faucigny-Lucinge. Their children are: Valérie-Anne, Henri
Henri Giscard d'Estaing
Henri Giscard d'Estaing is a French business figure and son of former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.-Biography:...
(Edmond Marie Valéry), Louis
Louis Giscard d'Estaing
Louis Giscard d'Estaing is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Puy-de-Dôme department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He is the son of former President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing....
(Joachim Marie François) and Jacinte (Marguerite Marie). Louis is a French conservative Representative; Henri is the President of the tourism company Club Méditerranée
Club Med
Club Méditerranée , commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is considered the original all-inclusive resort.-Foundation:...
.
Giscard's private life was the source of many rumors at both national and international level. His family did not live in the presidential palace with him and his nocturnal escapades were reported by publications such as Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
and the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
. In 1974, Le Monde reported that he used to leave a sealed letter stating his whereabouts in case of emergency.
In 2003 he received the Charlemagne Award of the German city of Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
. He is also a Knight of Malta.
He is an uncle of artist Aurore Giscard d'Estaing, who was married to American actor Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
.
He travels the world giving speeches on European union. During a visit to Ireland, d'Estaing was made an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
.
In 2005 he and his brother bought the castle of Estaing
Estaing, Aveyron
Estaing is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France.Located in the north of the Aveyron department in the Midi-Pyrénées region, Estaing is considered as one of the most picturesque villages in France. The village is very quiet during the winter months; it is in the summer that the...
, a famous place in the French district of Aveyron and formerly a possession of the above mentioned admiral d'Estaing who was beheaded in 1794. The castle is not used as a residence but it has symbolic value. The two brothers explained that the purchase, supported by the local municipality, is an act of patronage. However a number of major newspapers in several countries questioned their motives and some hinted at self-appointed nobility and a usurped historical identity.
Giscard wrote his second romantic novel, published on 1 October 2009 in France, entitled The Princess and The President. It tells the story of a French head of state having a romantic liaison with a character called Patricia, Princess of Cardiff. This fuelled rumours that the piece of fiction was based on a real-life liaison between Giscard and Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. He later stressed that the story was entirely made up and no such affair had happened.
External links
Personal blog of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Biography on the French National Assembly website First and second-round results of French presidential elections|-