Valéry Giscard d’Estaing

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was a French politician, who served as President of the Fifth Republic of France, between 1974 and 1981. Giscard d’Estaing was born on February 2nd, in 1926 and he participated in the French Resistance during World War II. When he was 18, he joined the French Army, having been awarded with the “Croix de Guerre” due to his participation in campaigns during World War II. Giscard d’Estaing studied at the Polytechnic School and the National School of Administration, and joined General Finance Inspection, in 1952.

Between 1956 and 1974, he was a deputy in the French National Assembly of Puy-de-Dôme, and he was a delegate to the General Assembly of United Nations, between 1956 and 1958. In 1962, he became Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs for President Charles de Gaulle, a position which he held until 1966. Between 1969 and 1974, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was Minister of Economy and Finance of President Georges Pompidou. At the age of 48, Giscard d’Estaing was elected President of France against the candidate François Mitterrand, on May 19, 1974. During this period which lasted until 1981, the French President played an important role in the creation of European Council and european monetary system as well as the European Parliament’s universal suffrage.

In 1981, Giscard d’Estaing was defeated in a second round with François Mitterrand, but returned to politics the following year as a general counsel for the department of Puy-de-Dôme, where he remained until 1988. Between 1984 and 1989, he was elected to the National Assembly of Puy-de-Dôme again, and he was re-elected in 1993 and 1997. Between 1989 and 1993, Giscard d’Estaing was a Member of the European Parliament and in 2001 the European Council made him President of the Convention on the Future of Europe. At the age of 94, Giscard d’Estaing is the longest-lived French President in history.