FRANCE - PRESIDENT
Jacques Rene Chirac is the President of France. Chirac was born on November 29, 1932 in Paris. Chirac was elected to this office in 1995. He was re-elected in 2002. The current term of the President expires in 2007. He is an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He also enjoys the position of the Grand Master of the French Legion d'honneur.
Chirac has also served as Prime Minister from 1974 to 1976. He was nominated as the prime minister of France in 1974.
Chirac finished his studies at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. He also studied at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. In the initial phases of his career, he worked as a high-level civil servant. Later, he joined politics. Earlier, he has occupied various senior positions such as Minister of Agriculture, Prime Minister and Mayor of Paris.
The President of France stood for lower tax rates. He stood for removal of price controls. Other issues on which, he strongly emphasized were strong punishment for crime and terrorism. He also stressed on business privatization. Chirac has also argued for socially responsible economic policies.
Chirac has constantly argued for more socially responsible economic policies. He was elected in the year 1995, when he campaigned on a platform for healing the "social rift". He included various ideas such as laissez faire and dirigiste.
The President of France has had very controversial relationships with the United States, NATO and Israel.
CHIRAC'S EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Abel Francois Chirac is the father of Jacques Rene Chirac. His father worked as a company administrator. Chirac's mother Marie-Louise Valette was a housewife. Chirac is a Roman Catholic.
Chirac got married in 1956 to Bernadette Chodron de Courcel. He has two daughters Laurence and Claude.
EARLY YEARS OF CHIRAC'S POLITICAL CAREER
General Charles de Gaulle gave Chirac the inspiration to enter public life. He continued pursuing a civil service career in the 1950s. It was this period, when he joined the French Communist Party. In 1950, he signed the Soviet-inspired Stockholm Appeal. The Stockholm Appeal was for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In 1959, he earned a graduate degree from the ENA. In April 1962, he was appointed the head of the personal staff of Georges Pompidou. This appointment was the launchpad of his bright political career.
