Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
President of the Republic · 1974-1981 · born on 2 February 1926, died on 2 December 2020
Inspector of finances, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing became finance minister under General de Gaulle, then under Georges Pompidou. Elected president of the Republic in 1974, at 48, he embodied the modernization of France: voting at 18, abortion (Veil law, 1975), divorce by mutual consent, the TGV.
His seven-year term was marked by the global economic crisis after 1973: unemployment and inflation forced austerity plans. On the international stage, he worked with the German Helmut Schmidt and founded with him regular economic summits, forerunners of the G7.
Defeated in 1981 by François Mitterrand, he pursued a European career, becoming president of the Auvergne regional council and of the European Convention. He died in 2020, carried off by Covid-19.
In the tree of power
- Era: Fifth Republic
- Predecessor: Georges Pompidou (1969-1974)
- Successor: François Mitterrand (1981-1995)