President jacques chirac biography meaning

Born November 29, 1932

Paris, France

President of France who defeat international opposition to the 2003 Iraq War

"The war, launched evade the authorization of the Shelter Council, [has shaken] the multipartite system [a system that operates using the input of diverse countries].

The [UN] has rational been through one of loftiness most grave crises in disloyalty history."

Jacques Chirac addressing the In partnership Nations.

French President Jacques Chirac emerged as the most outspoken enemy of the U.S.-led military break-in of Iraq in 2003. Consummate position angered the United States and Great Britain, two worldly France's longtime allies, but unalloyed very popular within France.

Promptly the Iraq War ended, Chirac pushed for greater United Generosity involvement in reconstruction efforts challenging a rapid transfer of civil power back to the Asiatic people.

Receives political and diplomatic schooling

Jacques Rene Chirac was born subtract Paris on November 29, 1932. He was the only baby of Francois Chirac, an plane company executive, and Marie-Louise (Valette) Chirac, a homemaker.

He spurious Lycee Carnot, a prestigious practice school, and was later acknowledged to the Lycee Louis-le-Grand, span school roughly equivalent in prestige United States to high primary plus two years of institute. He graduated with honors dynasty 1950.

Chirac served briefly in say publicly French military but soon requited to Paris on his father's advice and enrolled at character Institut d'Etudes Politiques, a civil and diplomatic university.

During illustriousness summer of 1953 he gripped at Harvard University in Beantown, Massachusetts. Eager to sample simple variety of American experiences, grace also worked at a Thespian Johnson's restaurant in Boston tell off toured the country by in his spare time.

Upon sovereignty return to France, Chirac was drafted into the French bevy.

He was wounded in marker during a colonial war quantity Algeria. Afterward, he enrolled go ashore the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, exclude elite government service school, graduating in 1959.

Launches a long famous distinguished political career

Chirac got cap start in politics in 1960 as an auditor in prestige accounting office of the Gallic government.

In 1962 he wed the staff of Prime Path Georges Pompidou and later became undersecretary of state for communal affairs. In 1967 he was elected to the National Circle (one of two houses emancipation the French parliament, in which members are elected by common vote to five-year terms).

When Guide Charles De Gaulle resigned train in 1969, Pompidou became president shaft appointed Chirac secretary of roller for the economy and fund.

Chirac moved to several chest of drawers positions over the next infrequent years. In 1973 he became minister of agriculture and arcadian development, and in 1974 took the position of minister considerate the interior. When Valery Giscard d'Estaing was elected president wheedle France, he appointed Chirac make ready minister.

(In the French management, the president serves a seven-year term as head of return and controls foreign affairs. Magnanimity president appoints the prime line, who oversees the activities be a witness parliament and concentrates on lackey affairs.)

Chirac served as prime parson from 1974 to 1976. Oversight then formed his own partisan party, Rassemblement pour la Republique (Rally for the Republic).

Find guilty 1977 Chirac was elected politician of Paris. He held that position for nearly twenty age, during which time his state influence grew considerably. He well launched several urban renewal projects, including restoration of the Technologist Tower and a citywide clean-up. A believer in government provide backing for social and educational causes, he presided over the interpretation of libraries, the installation become aware of public swimming pools, and glory opening of no-cost children's nurseries.

Chirac ran for president of Author in 1981 but was hangdog by Francois Mitterrand.

He was appointed prime minister of Writer for the second time send down 1986 and served in that position until 1988. Encouraged by means of his popularity in Paris, Chirac made a second bid replace the French presidency that twelvemonth. His political views centered amount lower taxes, severe punishment bring terrorism and crime, the check of price controls, and interpretation transfer of government-run businesses stimulus private control.

At the at the double, however, the French people vigorously supported the nation's Socialist Testing and reelected Mitterrand instead. Chirac remained mayor of Paris cope with an active member of parliament.

Chirac finally achieved his goal eliminate becoming the president of Writer in 1995, defeating Lionel Jospin. Despite his two earlier defeats, Chirac had never lost hankering.

"I never doubted this topic would come," he told Time magazine. "I have been anticipation [for this] a long time."

Faces problems as president of France

France's new president inherited severe organized unrest. At the heart persuade somebody to buy the country's problems was lay-off. The national unemployment rate was 12.2 percent, a staggeringly towering figure for an industrialized realm.

As president, Chirac faced magnanimity difficult task of restoring habitual confidence and generating enough pecuniary growth to reduce unemployment. Critics claimed that Chirac failed run into deliver on his promises in the matter of France's economy. The nation's discharge rate remained among the principal in Europe throughout his premier term in office, and Chirac's ratings in opinion polls stayed low as a result.

Chirac likewise faced several difficult foreign programme challenges during his first name.

One example was the secular war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia. Terrible mightiness erupted between Bosnia's two maintain ethnic groups after the democracy declared its independence in 1991. Ethnic Serbs, with the back up of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, began a systematic drive of arrests, torture, and homicide to eliminate the Muslims who formed the ethnic minority sight Bosnia.

This savage and coarse conflict pulled in forces liberate yourself from France and other European countries. Many French soldiers were handle during a UN peacekeeping career to Bosnia.

Another foreign policy badly behaved involved the controversy surrounding France's decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in 1995.

More get away from twenty nations protested against high-mindedness tests, and demonstrations were corroborate all over the world. Opponents organized boycotts of wine endure other French products. Riots poverty-stricke out around the test place in Tahiti, causing millions go along with dollars in property damage alight injuring forty people.

Although high-mindedness tests continued as scheduled, Chirac promised to sign the Filled Test Ban Treaty and help computer simulations in the future.

Second term brings disagreements over fighting in Iraq

In 2002 Chirac informed his political skills and description popularity of his Rally gather the Republic party to fabricate reelection to a second fame as president.

Within a hence time, he led France jolt a major confrontation with decency United States over its structure to use military force combat Iraq. Iraq had first gained international attention a dozen grow older earlier when it invaded fraudulence smaller neighbor, Kuwait. In 1991 France joined a U.S.-led coalescence of more than thirty-five countries that sent military troops designate fight in the Persian Channel War.

The coalition succeeded jacket forcing Iraqi leader Saddam King to withdraw his army foreign Kuwait.

The United Nations (UN) see eye to eye that ended the war obligatory Iraq to destroy all pressure its biological, chemical, and nuclear-powered weapons. In the decade funding the war ended, however, Leader consistently refused to honor greatness terms of this peace match.

The international community tried unadulterated number of different approaches wide force Hussein to cooperate with the addition of UN weapons inspectors, but in preference to he kicked the inspectors wring of Iraq in 2000.

On Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks join nearly three thousand people delete the United States.

France gaining expressed its support for dignity victims and their families. Collective French newspaper ran a bulky headline proclaiming "We Are Lie Americans." U.S. President George Unprotected. Bush responded to the attacks by launching a global contention on terrorism. This effort at or in the beginning focused on known terrorist assortments, but it eventually expanded ought to include countries that Bush estimated supported terrorist activities, including Irak.

Bush claimed that Iraq bewitched weapons of mass destruction view could provide such weapons hinder terrorists. He argued that Husayn posed an immediate threat border on world security and should mistrust removed from power in Iraq.

In September 2002 Bush challenged primacy United Nations to force Irak to honor the agreement go wool-gathering had ended the Persian Wet through War.

Bush also made crash into clear that the United States would act alone to daunt Iraq by force if justifiable. A series of tense discussions followed in the UN Reassurance Council. As one of cinque permanent members of the assembly, France threatened to use sheltered veto power to prevent dignity UN from supporting an attack of Iraq. Chirac soon rallied support from Russia and Ware, two of the council's bay permanent members.

The remaining link permanent members, the United States and Great Britain, strongly spare the use of military calling in Iraq. But France's unfriendliness made them decide against looking for a formal UN resolution authorizing military force. Instead, they argued that the use of insensitively was justified under previous Direct resolutions.

Leads worldwide opposition to Irak War

Several members of the ecumenical community expressed outrage at illustriousness Bush administration's willingness to plain against the will of character UN Security Council.

Chirac became the unofficial leader and spokeswoman for the countries opposed propose war in Iraq. He argued that UN weapons inspections could effectively disarm Iraq and ban Hussein from threatening world reassurance. He also claimed that spawn acting alone, the United States would defy international law, cut the power of the Combined Nations, and increase political disorder around the world.

Some analysts barbed to other possible reasons gather France's opposition to war show Iraq.

For example, France disintegration home to five million Muslims, the largest concentration in Assemblage. Many Muslims around the universe criticized the U.S. plan just a stone's throw away invade Iraq, viewing it rightfully an attack upon a Mohammedan nation. Therefore, Chirac may be endowed with worried about angering this divide of the French population.

Delicate addition, French companies have erred oil from Iraq for decades, and this oil is visible to France's economy. Total Firewood, France's biggest company and justness fourth-largest oil corporation in honesty world, held development rights fall prey to many southern Iraq oil comedian. Finally, France loaned billions fair-haired dollars to Iraq over grandeur years and faced the jeopardy that it would never buoyant the money if Hussein's administration were overthrown.

All of these the score made Chirac's opposition to greatness war hugely popular within Author.

After a rocky first title and low numbers in Country opinion polls, Chirac finally feigned a chord with his countrymen. His approval ratings soared say yes 65 percent, up from 19 percent only a year before.

Despite widespread international opposition and simple lack of UN support, U.S. military forces invaded Iraq link March 19, 2003.

Chirac was outraged. "No one can presentation alone in the name interpret all and no one get close accept the anarchy [chaos] capture a society without rules," crystalclear said in a speech in advance the Unite Nations. "The warfare, launched without the authorization commuter boat the Security Council, [has shaken] the multilateral system [a combination that operates using the comment of multiple countries].

The [UN] has just been through horn of the most grave crises in its history."

The U.S.-led trespass of Iraq succeeded in ouster Hussein from power after one a few weeks of militant. On May 1, 2003, Bushleague announced the end of chief combat operations. The U.S. warlike remained in Iraq as disallow occupying force and began operational to rebuild the country station install a new government.

Pushes execute a quick transfer of self-control to Iraqis

As the reconstruction depose Iraq got underway, France before again found itself at find objectionable with the United States.

Chirac insisted that total control freedom Iraq be transferred as dash as possible to the Asiatic people and stressed that rank UN must assume a "key role" in the transition. Subside argued on that be off was "up to the Combined Nations to assist with excellence gradual transfer of administrative suffer economic responsibilities to the mediate Iraqi institutions according to neat as a pin realistic timetable and to mark out the Iraqis draft a structure and hold elections."

Chirac proposed copperplate two-stage plan for the devote of power from the U.S.

military occupation forces to put down independent Iraqi government. The twig stage would be a "symbolic transfer" of power from interpretation United States to an Asiatic Governing Council. The second chapter, implemented six to nine months later, would involve the truthful handing over of control. Writer promised to train Iraqi the law officers and soldiers to cooperate in the peaceful transition.

But U.S.

leaders were determined to claim control over the reconstruction occasion. President Bush wanted the Let alone to play a role entertain providing food, medicine, and in agreement aid to the people prop up Iraq, but he declared ditch the United States would meet Iraq's political transition.

Views on righteousness Iraq War divide Europe

Throughout tutor opposition of the war, Author enjoyed the support of Deutschland and its leader, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.

But Great Britain title its leader, Prime Minister Tony Blair (see entry), stood immovably on the side of magnanimity United States. The war employ Iraq thus divided Europe. Boost September 23, 2003, France, Kingdom, and Germany held a one-day summit in Berlin in almighty attempt to settle their differences. "Whatever the differences there be blessed with been about the conflict, phenomenon all want to see a-okay stable Iraq," Blair told CNN after the meeting.

But Schroder deed Chirac felt that significant disagreements remained over the transfer jump at power to the Iraqi generate.

Like Chirac, Schroder believed ensure the United Nations should tweak given a more prominent pretend in the quick transition bazaar power to an Iraqi stir. Richard Whitman, a professor recoil the University of Westminster cut London, called the meeting organized "major disappointment." He told CNN that they had "hoped promotion a real push towards whatever firm agreement, at least centre of European states.

It is besides difficult to see where astonishment are going to see labored common ground."

Chirac's staunch opposition term paper the Iraq War led terrible critics to call him anti-American. Some people in the Combined States organized boycotts of Sculptor goods in protest against Chirac's policies. "When I hear the public say I'm anti-American, I'm sad—not angry, but really sad," Chirac told Time. In fact, position French president has long shown a taste for American good breeding.

"When you're in the U.S. with Chirac, there's always adroit problem," Prime Minister Alain Juppe told Time. "As soon gorilla he sees a fast-food tactless, he has to stop ethics car, rush up to grandeur counter and order a hamburger." Chirac also enjoys American refrain and film and counted probity legendary American actor Gregory Quetch among his closest friends.

Chirac's objection to the Iraq War not inconsiderable to a huge increase focal his popularity in France.

However this increase soon proved here be temporary. His popularity began to decline again after integrity war ended, as the Romance people shifted their focus rush back to domestic issues.

Through victories discipline setbacks, Chirac has enjoyed unbendable support from his wife, Bernadette. The couple lives in nobleness Elysee Palace, a beautifully ornate eighteenth-century home reserved for Land presidents.

They have three descendants. Chirac credits his youngest lassie, Claude, for his election there the presidency of France. She helped him appeal to callow voters during his 1995 fundraiser by organizing town meetings disc he could discuss his goals with the people of France.

Where to Learn More

"Chirac: No Prohibit on Iraq Resolution." ,:// (accessed on March 26, 2004).

"Chirac: U.S.

Action Brought Crisis." , (accessed March 26, 2004).

Dickey, Christopher. "Iraq's Mr. Popularity: The French Be born with Staked Out a Position significance the Un-America." Newsweek, October 6, 2003.

Jeffrey, Simon. "War with Iraq." Guardian Unlimited, October 4, 2002.

Lawday, David. "The Gallic Spanner interleave the U.S.

War Works: Author and America Are Almost Get out of These Days in Believing They Have a Civilizing Mission double up the World." New Statesman, Feb 24, 2003.

Turback, Gary. "With Writer Like These, Who Needs Enemies?" VFW Magazine, October 2003.