President led reforms of French society
Apolitician b February 2, 1926 d December 2, 2020
suave yet aloof man, Valery Giscard d’estaing led liberal social reforms that contrasted with his wealthy, patrician background.
No wonder that, while he was president of France between 1974 and 1981, Giscard, as he was known, was a constant puzzle to his countrymen.
He began his time in office with some eye-catching moves that suggested he might, after all, manage the common touch.
Having entered the Elysee Palace in shirtsleeves, he cut back its stiff ceremonial style, visited bistros like any other citizen, played the accordion on TV, gave breakfast to dustmen, invited himself to dinner in ordinary homes, and shook hands with prisoners.
His critics scoffed at these ‘‘gimmicks’’ and called him a phoney, but the public mainly approved, and he and his prime minister, Raymond Barre, were soon skilfully piloting France’s economy through the shoals of aworld recession.
Radical social reforms followed, most notably when he induced parliament to not only relax the laws on divorce – despite fierce opposition from the
Catholic Church – but also legalise abortion, using Socialist and Communist support. It was a remarkable achievement.
Giscard, who has died aged 94 from Covid-19 complications, will probably be remembered best for founding the G6 group of world leaders and hosting their first meeting in 1975. His great ally was the West German chancellorhelmut Schmidt.
They built close links and spoke fluent English at their frequent meetings.
‘‘I had the good luck to have him as a colleague,’’ Giscard told the Financial Times in 2014.
‘‘We were elected as the head of our countries within three days of one another. We knew each other very well.
‘‘We had the same ideas about Europe and so we built a programme and we made progress on a lot of things.’’
Together they led the charge on the EEC’S European Monetary System – which paved the way for the EU’S single currency – the European Council and the European Parliament.
His reputation for extramarital affairs was a constant feature of his presidency.
Le Monde reported that, when engaged in one of his liaisons, he used to leave a sealed letter with a senior aide stating his whereabouts in case of emergency.
But the public found no reason to criticise, while strict French laws of privacy gave him added protection.
By 2020 the mood had changed, thanks to themetoo movement, and when a female reporter accused him of touching her buttocks during a photoshoot, which he denied, the papers were less inclined to turn a blind eye.
Valery Marie Rene Georges Giscard d’estaingwas born in Koblenz, Germany, where his industrialist father was doing army service. The Giscards were a rich and influential family of businessmen and politicians who claimed descent from Louis XV.
He attended two of the smartest schools in Paris and, at 18, joined the French Resistance – or at least claimed he did.
After military service, he passed through the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d’administration to emerge at the pinnacle of France’s elitist structure as an inspector of finance.
Although never a Gaullist in politics, he was spotted by Charles De Gaulle as a rising star and in 1959 was made secretary of state at the finance ministry. In 1962, he became what is thought to be France’s youngest finance minister.
By now his long-term sightswere set on the presidency.
When De Gaulle’s successor, Georges Pompidou, died in office in 1974, Giscard felt that his hour had come, and squeezed past Francois Mitterrand in the second round of voting.
Until that point he was thought to be a prisoner of his affluent elitism, but as president a new Giscard emerged. As well as legalising abortion, he lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, and introduced reforms to bringmore equality into school education.
Under Barre’s prime ministership, France weathered the storms of the late 1970s better than most Western countries: the franc held up, exports soared.
The Giscard-barre strategy for industry was to promote high technology as the best investment and to refuse to pour public money into shoring up ‘‘lame ducks’’, even if this fuelled the steady rise in unemployment.
Giscard also embarked on the world’s most extensive nuclear energy programme, seeing this as a wise insurance for a nation with no oil.
Giscard lost his zeal for social reform as the years went by, and his vanity succumbed to the temptation of regal pomp. ‘‘Rationally, hewants to be a liberal, but by temperament he is interfering and autocratic,’’ one observer said.
By 1980, his regime was growing weary and scandals blew up for which Giscard had to carry part of the odium.
Robert Boulin, an admired minister, killed himself in unpleasant circumstances; a right-wing politician, the Prince de Broglie, was mysteriously murdered and high state officialswere implicated.
Above all, in 1979 Giscard imprudently accepted a gift of diamonds from the Central African tyrant Jean-bedel Bokassa; when pressed to reveal the facts, he was evasive.
He fought a dull, ill-prepared campaign against Mitterrand in 1980, and lost the presidency. He crept quietly into the comfort and security of his titled friends, his private wealth and his family chateau.
Although a womaniser in the grand French tradition, Giscardwas faithful in his fashion to his wife, Anne-aymone, and to their four children. He relished the friendship of those who were rich and titled; and, not always wisely, he included aristocrats among the inner circle of his political entourage.
The man who gave breakfast to his dustmen was really more at ease giving champagne cocktails to princes.
It was perhaps not the ideal recipe for political success. – The Times