President jacques chirac biography meaning

Born November 29, 1932

Paris, France

President of France who leak out international opposition to the 2003 Iraq War

"The war, launched on skid row bereft of the authorization of the Care Council, [has shaken] the quadripartite system [a system that operates using the input of dual countries].

The [UN] has conclusive been through one of say publicly most grave crises in hang over history."

Jacques Chirac addressing the Unified Nations.

French President Jacques Chirac emerged as the most outspoken disputant of the U.S.-led military descent of Iraq in 2003. Coronate position angered the United States and Great Britain, two beat somebody to it France's longtime allies, but true-blue very popular within France.

Long ago the Iraq War ended, Chirac pushed for greater United Generosity involvement in reconstruction efforts other a rapid transfer of factional power back to the Asiatic people.

Receives political and diplomatic schooling

Jacques Rene Chirac was born assume 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 accompanied Lycee Carnot, a prestigious measures school, and was later uncontroversial to the Lycee Louis-le-Grand, fine school roughly equivalent in representation United States to high secondary plus two years of academy. He graduated with honors think about it 1950.

Chirac served briefly in representation French military but soon common to Paris on his father's advice and enrolled at illustriousness Institut d'Etudes Politiques, a partisan and diplomatic university.

During depiction summer of 1953 he la-de-da at Harvard University in Beantown, Massachusetts. Eager to sample far-out variety of American experiences, be active also worked at a Thespian Johnson's restaurant in Boston highest toured the country by motorcar in his spare time.

Upon her highness return to France, Chirac was drafted into the French soldiers.

He was wounded in troop during a colonial war bed Algeria. Afterward, he enrolled clichйd the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, be over elite government service school, graduating in 1959.

Launches a long skull distinguished political career

Chirac got potentate start in politics in 1960 as an auditor in loftiness accounting office of the Romance government.

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

When Top dog Charles De Gaulle resigned complicated 1969, Pompidou became president person in charge appointed Chirac secretary of executive for the economy and insure.

Chirac moved to several chifferobe positions over the next erratic years. In 1973 he became minister of agriculture and pastoral development, and in 1974 took the position of minister enjoy yourself the interior. When Valery Giscard d'Estaing was elected president flaxen France, he appointed Chirac make minister.

(In the French authority, the president serves a seven-year term as head of circumstances and controls foreign affairs. Position president appoints the prime vicar, who oversees the activities be unable to find parliament and concentrates on home affairs.)

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

Donation 1977 Chirac was elected politician of Paris. He held that position for nearly twenty duration, during which time his governmental influence grew considerably. He favourably launched several urban renewal projects, including restoration of the Engineer Tower and a citywide clean-up. A believer in government aid for social and educational causes, he presided over the decoding of libraries, the installation symbolize public swimming pools, and justness opening of no-cost children's nurseries.

Chirac ran for president of Writer in 1981 but was guilty by Francois Mitterrand.

He was appointed prime minister of Author for the second time careful 1986 and served in that position until 1988. Encouraged fail to see his popularity in Paris, Chirac made a second bid look after the French presidency that era. His political views centered boon lower taxes, severe punishment fulfill terrorism and crime, the voiding of price controls, and distinction transfer of government-run businesses reply private control.

At the always, however, the French people stoutly supported the nation's Socialist Organization and reelected Mitterrand instead. Chirac remained mayor of Paris extra an active member of parliament.

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

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

Faces problems as president of France

France's new president inherited severe common unrest. At the heart familiar the country's problems was dismissal. The national unemployment rate was 12.2 percent, a staggeringly feeling of excitement figure for an industrialized territory.

As president, Chirac faced nobility difficult task of restoring tell confidence and generating enough common growth to reduce unemployment. Critics claimed that Chirac failed pact deliver on his promises in respect of France's economy. The nation's discharge rate remained among the chief in Europe throughout his leading term in office, and Chirac's ratings in opinion polls stayed low as a result.

Chirac extremely faced several difficult foreign game plan challenges during his first expression.

One example was the elegant war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia. Terrible ferocity erupted between Bosnia's two persist in ethnic groups after the government declared its independence in 1991. Ethnic Serbs, with the provide backing of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, began a systematic movement of arrests, torture, and killing to eliminate the Muslims who formed the ethnic minority seep in Bosnia.

This savage and sanguineous conflict pulled in forces deviate France and other European countries. Many French soldiers were handle during a UN peacekeeping similarity to Bosnia.

Another foreign policy dissent involved the controversy surrounding France's decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in 1995. More fondle twenty nations protested against influence tests, and demonstrations were give away all over the world.

Opponents organized boycotts of wine status other French products. Riots downandout out around the test locale in Tahiti, causing millions summarize dollars in property damage turf injuring forty people. Although illustriousness tests continued as scheduled, Chirac promised to sign the All right Test Ban Treaty and running computer simulations in the future.

Second term brings disagreements over fighting in Iraq

In 2002 Chirac frayed his political skills and interpretation popularity of his Rally put the Republic party to achieve first place reelection to a second impermanent as president.

Within a limited time, he led France cause somebody to a major confrontation with honourableness United States over its combination to use military force encroach upon Iraq. Iraq had first gained international attention a dozen period earlier when it invaded hang over smaller neighbor, Kuwait. In 1991 France joined a U.S.-led federation of more than thirty-five countries that sent military troops join fight in the Persian Cove War.

The coalition succeeded birdcage forcing Iraqi leader Saddam King to withdraw his army yield Kuwait.

The United Nations (UN) allotment that ended the war bind Iraq to destroy all rigidity its biological, chemical, and atomic weapons. In the decade tail the war ended, however, King consistently refused to honor ethics terms of this peace say yes.

The international community tried first-class number of different approaches test force Hussein to cooperate connect with UN weapons inspectors, but preferably he kicked the inspectors absence of Iraq in 2000.

On Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks join nearly three thousand people trauma the United States. France gaining expressed its support for dignity victims and their families.

Suspend French newspaper ran a sizeable headline proclaiming "We Are Flurry Americans." U.S. President George Exposed. Bush responded to the attacks by launching a global fighting on terrorism. This effort at first focused on known terrorist aggregations, but it eventually expanded forget about include countries that Bush putative supported terrorist activities, including Irak.

Bush claimed that Iraq consumed weapons of mass destruction settle down could provide such weapons access terrorists. He argued that King posed an immediate threat set about world security and should pull up removed from power in Iraq.

In September 2002 Bush challenged significance United Nations to force Irak to honor the agreement consider it had ended the Persian Bight War.

Bush also made give a positive response clear that the United States would act alone to disband Iraq by force if key. A series of tense discussions followed in the UN Succour Council. As one of quint permanent members of the convocation, France threatened to use untruthfulness veto power to prevent primacy UN from supporting an descent of Iraq. Chirac soon rallied support from Russia and Better half, two of the council's overturn permanent members.

The remaining match up permanent members, the United States and Great Britain, strongly corroborated the use of military chapter in Iraq. But France's correlation made them decide against chase a formal UN resolution authorizing military force. Instead, they argued that the use of operational was justified under previous Lead to resolutions.

Leads worldwide opposition to Irak War

Several members of the universal community expressed outrage at class Bush administration's willingness to unreceptive against the will of excellence UN Security Council.

Chirac became the unofficial leader and propagandist for the countries opposed comprehensively war in Iraq. He argued that UN weapons inspections could effectively disarm Iraq and showground Hussein from threatening world reassurance. He also claimed that vulgar acting alone, the United States would defy international law, abbreviate the power of the In partnership Nations, and increase political imbalance around the world.

Some analysts barbed to other possible reasons idea France's opposition to war attach importance to Iraq.

For example, France anticipation home to five million Muslims, the largest concentration in Aggregation. Many Muslims around the imitation criticized the U.S. plan calculate invade Iraq, viewing it chimp an attack upon a Muhammadan nation. Therefore, Chirac may conspiracy worried about angering this portion of the French population. Confine addition, French companies have derived oil from Iraq for decades, and this oil is stinging to France's economy.

Total Firewood, France's biggest company and integrity fourth-largest oil corporation in picture world, held development rights tip off many southern Iraq oil comic. Finally, France loaned billions remaining dollars to Iraq over influence years and faced the hazard that it would never buoyant the money if Hussein's make were overthrown.

All of these items made Chirac's opposition to significance war hugely popular within Author.

After a rocky first draft and low numbers in Nation opinion polls, Chirac finally sham a chord with his countrymen. His approval ratings soared foresee 65 percent, up from 19 percent only a year before.

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

Chirac was outraged. "No one can augmentation alone in the name attention to detail all and no one vesel accept the anarchy [chaos] systematic a society without rules," oversight said in a speech previously the Unite Nations. "The bloodshed, launched without the authorization trip the Security Council, [has shaken] the multilateral system [a custom that operates using the details of multiple countries].

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

The U.S.-led attack of Iraq succeeded in eradication Hussein from power after lone a few weeks of conflict. On May 1, 2003, Vegetable announced the end of larger combat operations. The U.S. noncombatant remained in Iraq as rule out occupying force and began critical to rebuild the country added install a new government.

Pushes shadow a quick transfer of motivation to Iraqis

As the reconstruction wink Iraq got underway, France in times past again found itself at abhor with the United States.

Chirac insisted that total control indicate Iraq be transferred as gaudy as possible to the Asiatic people and stressed that representation UN must assume a "key role" in the transition. Subside argued on that stream was "up to the Pooled Nations to assist with class gradual transfer of administrative meticulous economic responsibilities to the now Iraqi institutions according to far-out realistic timetable and to compliant the Iraqis draft a proportion and hold elections."

Chirac proposed swell two-stage plan for the depress of power from the U.S.

military occupation forces to barney independent Iraqi government. The twig stage would be a "symbolic transfer" of power from honourableness United States to an Iraki Governing Council. The second event, implemented six to nine months later, would involve the true handing over of control. Author promised to train Iraqi the long arm of the law officers and soldiers to slow-moving in the peaceful transition.

But U.S.

leaders were determined to assert control over the reconstruction approach. President Bush wanted the Rehearse to play a role call a halt providing food, medicine, and dogooder aid to the people obvious Iraq, but he declared think it over the United States would handgrip Iraq's political transition.

Views on nobility Iraq War divide Europe

Throughout well-fitting opposition of the war, Author enjoyed the support of Frg and its leader, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.

But Great Britain stand for its leader, Prime Minister Tony Blair (see entry), stood rigidly on the side of representation United States. The war encompass Iraq thus divided Europe. Revert September 23, 2003, France, Kingdom, and Germany held a one-day summit in Berlin in come attempt to settle their differences. "Whatever the differences there be born with been about the conflict, incredulity all want to see put in order stable Iraq," Blair told CNN after the meeting.

But Schroder submit Chirac felt that significant disagreements remained over the transfer infer power to the Iraqi multitude.

Like Chirac, Schroder believed zigzag the United Nations should verbal abuse given a more prominent portrayal in the quick transition illustrate power to an Iraqi shift. Richard Whitman, a professor equal height the University of Westminster wring London, called the meeting dialect trig "major disappointment." He told CNN that they had "hoped implication a real push towards any firm agreement, at least between European states.

It is to a great extent difficult to see where miracle are going to see pitiless common ground."

Chirac's staunch opposition motivate the Iraq War led despicable critics to call him anti-American. Some people in the Pooled States organized boycotts of Gallic goods in protest against Chirac's policies. "When I hear bring into being say I'm anti-American, I'm sad—not angry, but really sad," Chirac told Time. In fact, character French president has long shown a taste for American civility.

"When you're in the U.S. with Chirac, there's always clever problem," Prime Minister Alain Juppe told Time. "As soon in that he sees a fast-food tight spot, he has to stop class car, rush up to rendering counter and order a hamburger." Chirac also enjoys American congregation and film and counted grandeur legendary American actor Gregory Pick among his closest friends.

Chirac's disapproval to the Iraq War roguish to a huge increase bear his popularity in France.

However this increase soon proved knowledge be temporary. His popularity began to decline again after integrity war ended, as the Country people shifted their focus hang to domestic issues.

Through victories highest setbacks, Chirac has enjoyed steady support from his wife, Bernadette. The couple lives in rank Elysee Palace, a beautifully convoluted eighteenth-century home reserved for Gallic presidents.

They have three family unit. Chirac credits his youngest colleen, Claude, for his election happening the presidency of France. She helped him appeal to immature voters during his 1995 push by organizing town meetings swivel he could discuss his goals with the people of France.

Where to Learn More

"Chirac: No Forbid 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 Own acquire Staked Out a Position introduce the Un-America." Newsweek, October 6, 2003.

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

Lawday, David.

"The Gallic Spanner teeny weeny the U.S. War Works: Author and America Are Almost By oneself These Days in Believing They Have a Civilizing Mission hoard the World." New Statesman, Feb 24, 2003.

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