Jacques Chirac

Jacques Chirac studied at Sciences Po and the École Nationale d'Administration and served in Algeria before joining the staff of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou. Elected deputy for Corrèze in 1967, he held several ministries and became prime minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1974, resigning in 1976 to found the RPR. He was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995 and prime minister again during cohabitation from 1986 to 1988. Elected president in 1995 at his third attempt, he was re-elected in 2002 with about 82 percent in a runoff against Jean-Marie Le Pen, and left office in 2007.

Supporters remember Chirac for his opposition to the Iraq war, his acknowledgment of the French state's role under Vichy, his refusal to deal with the far right and his personal warmth; the Quai Branly museum is one lasting monument. Critics described him as an opportunist whose positions shifted with circumstances and who achieved few major reforms as president. His 1997 decision to call an early election handed power to the Socialists for five years of cohabitation, and the 1995 strikes and the 2005 referendum defeat weakened him. In 2011 a Paris court found him guilty of diverting public funds through fake jobs while he was mayor of Paris and gave him a two-year suspended sentence.