Valéry-René-Marie-Georges Giscard d'Estaing

When President Georges Pompidou unexpectedly died in 1974, François Mitterrand declared his candidacy as representative of the united left, while the conservatives failed to agree on a candidate. The Gaullists nominated Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, but a sizable minority of the UDR declared support for a non-Gaullist, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who was the leader of the Independent Republicans. Giscard won over Chaban-Delmas in the first round and narrowly defeated Mitterrand in the runoff.

The new president declared his goal to be the transformation of France into "an advanced liberal society." As prime minister he chose the young and forceful Jacques Chirac, leader of the Gaullist minority. The new leadership reduced the voting age to 18, legalized abortion within certain limits, and instituted measures to protect the environment. But the course of reform was stalled by the oil crisis of 1973. Industrial production slowed, unemployment rose, and inflation threatened.

As discontent grew, Giscard's leadership was challenged by his ambitious prime minister, Chirac. Open rivalry between the two men led Giscard to dismiss Chirac in favor of Raymond Barre, a professional economist. These factional conflicts on the right opened new prospects for the coalition of the left, but the Socialist-Communist alliance fell apart and enabled the conservatives to retain control of the National Assembly in the 1978 elections.

When Giscard's presidential term ended in May 1981, opinion polls seemed to indicate that he would be elected to a second term. He overcame a vigorous challenge by Chirac in the first round of voting and seemed well placed to defeat the Socialist Mitterrand in the runoff. But Mitterrand surprised the pollsters by scoring a slim victory - the first major victory for the left in three decades. Biography source: [2; 6]