Jacques chirac height

Born November 29, 1932

Paris, France

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

"The war, launched without the authorization of the Security Council, [has shaken] the multilateral system [a system that operates using the input of multiple countries]. The [UN] has just been through one of the most grave crises in its history."

Jacques Chirac addressing the United Nations.

French President Jacques Chirac emerged as the most outspoken opponent of the U.S.-led military invasion of Iraq in 2003. His position angered the United States and Great Britain, two of France's longtime allies, but proved very popular within France. Once the Iraq War ended, Chirac pushed for greater United Nations involvement in reconstruction efforts and a rapid transfer of political power back to the Iraqi people.

Receives political and diplomatic schooling

Jacques Rene Chirac was born in Paris on November 29, 1932. He was the only child of Francois Chirac, an aircraft company executive, and Marie-Louise (Valette) Chirac, a homemaker. He attended Lycee Carnot, a prestigious prep school, and was later accepted to the Lycee Louis-le-Grand, a school roughly equivalent in the United States to high school plus two years of college. He graduated with honors in 1950.

Chirac served briefly in the French military but soon returned to Paris on his father's advice and enrolled at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, a political and diplomatic university. During the summer of 1953 he studied at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. Eager to sample a variety of American experiences, he also worked at a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Boston and toured the country by car in his spare time.

Upon his return to France, Chirac was drafted into the French army. He was wounded in action during a colonial war in Algeria. Afterward, he enrolled at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, an elite government service school, graduating in 1959.

Launches a long and distinguished political career

Chirac got his start in politics in 1960 as an auditor in the accounting office of the French government. In 1962 he joined the staff of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou and later became undersecretary of state for social affairs. In 1967 he was elected to the National Assembly (one of two houses of the French parliament, in which members are elected by popular vote to five-year terms).

When President Charles De Gaulle resigned in 1969, Pompidou became president and appointed Chirac secretary of state for the economy and finance. Chirac moved to several cabinet positions over the next few years. In 1973 he became minister of agriculture and rural development, and in 1974 took the position of minister of the interior. When Valery Giscard d'Estaing was elected president of France, he appointed Chirac prime minister. (In the French government, the president serves a seven-year term as head of state and controls foreign affairs. The president appoints the prime minister, who oversees the activities of parliament and concentrates on domestic affairs.)

Chirac served as prime minister from 1974 to 1976. He then formed his own political party, Rassemblement pour la Republique (Rally for the Republic). In 1977 Chirac was elected mayor of Paris. He held this position for nearly twenty years, during which time his political influence grew considerably. He successfully launched several urban renewal projects, including restoration of the Eiffel Tower and a citywide clean-up. A believer in government support for social and educational causes, he presided over the construction of libraries, the installation of public swimming pools, and the opening of no-cost children's nurseries.

Chirac ran for president of France in 1981 but was defeated by Francois Mitterrand. He was appointed prime minister of France for the second time in 1986 and served in this position until 1988. Encouraged by his popularity in Paris, Chirac made a second bid for the French presidency that year. His political views centered on lower taxes, severe punishment for terrorism and crime, the elimination of price controls, and the transfer of government-run businesses into private control. At the time, however, the French people strongly supported the nation's Socialist Party and reelected Mitterrand instead. Chirac remained mayor of Paris and an active member of parliament.

Chirac finally achieved his goal of becoming the president of France in 1995, defeating Lionel Jospin. Despite his two earlier defeats, Chirac had never lost hope. "I never doubted this rise would come," he told Time magazine. "I have been preparing [for this] a long time."

Faces problems as president of France

France's new president inherited severe social unrest. At the heart of the country's problems was unemployment. The national unemployment rate was 12.2 percent, a staggeringly high figure for an industrialized country. As president, Chirac faced the difficult task of restoring public confidence and generating enough economic growth to reduce unemployment. Critics claimed that Chirac failed to deliver on his promises regarding France's economy. The nation's unemployment rate remained among the highest in Europe throughout his first term in office, and Chirac's ratings in opinion polls stayed low as a result.

Chirac also faced several difficult foreign policy challenges during his first term. One example was the civil war in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia. Terrible violence erupted between Bosnia's two main ethnic groups after the republic declared its independence in 1991. Ethnic Serbs, with the support of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, began a systematic campaign of arrests, torture, and murder to eliminate the Muslims who formed the ethnic minority in Bosnia. This savage and bloody conflict pulled in forces from France and other European countries. Many French soldiers were killed during a UN peacekeeping mission to Bosnia.

Another foreign policy challenge involved the controversy surrounding France's decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in 1995. More than twenty nations protested against the tests, and demonstrations were staged all over the world. Opponents organized boycotts of wine and other French products. Riots broke out around the test site in Tahiti, causing millions of dollars in property damage and injuring forty people. Although the tests continued as scheduled, Chirac promised to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and use computer simulations in the future.

Second term brings disagreements over war in Iraq

In 2002 Chirac used his political skills and the popularity of his Rally for the Republic party to win reelection to a second term as president. Within a short time, he led France into a major confrontation with the United States over its plans to use military force against Iraq. Iraq had first gained international attention a dozen years earlier when it invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait. In 1991 France joined a U.S.-led coalition of more than thirty-five countries that sent military troops to fight in the Persian Gulf War. The coalition succeeded in forcing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to withdraw his army from Kuwait.

The United Nations (UN) agreement that ended the war required Iraq to destroy all of its biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. In the decade after the war ended, however, Hussein consistently refused to honor the terms of this peace agreement. The international community tried a number of different approaches to force Hussein to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, but instead he kicked the inspectors out of Iraq in 2000.

On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks killed nearly three thousand people in the United States. France immediately expressed its support for the victims and their families. One French newspaper ran a large headline proclaiming "We Are All Americans." U.S. President George W. Bush responded to the attacks by launching a global war on terrorism. This effort initially focused on known terrorist groups, but it eventually expanded to include countries that Bush believed supported terrorist activities, including Iraq. Bush claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and could provide such weapons to terrorists. He argued that Hussein posed an immediate threat to world security and should be removed from power in Iraq.

In September 2002 Bush challenged the United Nations to force Iraq to honor the agreement that had ended the Persian Gulf War. Bush also made it clear that the United States would act alone to disarm Iraq by force if necessary. A series of tense discussions followed in the UN Security Council. As one of five permanent members of the council, France threatened to use its veto power to prevent the UN from supporting an invasion of Iraq. Chirac soon rallied support from Russia and China, two of the council's other permanent members. The remaining two permanent members, the United States and Great Britain, strongly supported the use of military force in Iraq. But France's opposition made them decide against seeking a formal UN resolution authorizing military force. Instead, they argued that the use of force was justified under previous UN resolutions.

Leads worldwide opposition to Iraq War

Several members of the international community expressed outrage at the Bush administration's willingness to act against the will of the UN Security Council. Chirac became the unofficial leader and spokesman for the countries opposed to war in Iraq. He argued that UN weapons inspections could effectively disarm Iraq and prevent Hussein from threatening world security. He also claimed that by acting alone, the United States would defy international law, reduce the power of the United Nations, and increase political instability around the world.

Some analysts pointed to other possible reasons for France's opposition to war in Iraq. For example, France is home to five million Muslims, the largest concentration in Europe. Many Muslims around the world criticized the U.S. plan to invade Iraq, viewing it as an attack upon a Muslim nation. Therefore, Chirac may have worried about angering this segment of the French population. In addition, French companies have acquired oil from Iraq for decades, and this oil is important to France's economy. Total Petroleum, France's biggest company and the fourth-largest oil corporation in the world, held development rights to many southern Iraq oil fields. Finally, France loaned billions of dollars to Iraq over the years and faced the possibility that it would never recover the money if Hussein's government were overthrown.

All of these factors made Chirac's opposition to the war hugely popular within France. After a rocky first term and low numbers in French opinion polls, Chirac finally struck a chord with his countrymen. His approval ratings soared to 65 percent, up from 19 percent only a year before.

Despite widespread international opposition and a lack of UN support, U.S. military forces invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003. Chirac was outraged. "No one can act alone in the name of all and no one can accept the anarchy [chaos] of a society without rules," he said in a speech before the Unite Nations. "The war, launched without the authorization of the Security Council, [has shaken] the multilateral system [a system that operates using the input of multiple countries]. The [UN] has just been through one of the most grave crises in its history."

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq succeeded in removing Hussein from power after only a few weeks of fighting. On May 1, 2003, Bush announced the end of major combat operations. The U.S. military remained in Iraq as an occupying force and began working to rebuild the country and install a new government.

Pushes for a quick transfer of power to Iraqis

As the reconstruction of Iraq got underway, France once again found itself at odds with the United States. Chirac insisted that total control of Iraq be transferred as quickly as possible to the Iraqi people and stressed that the UN must assume a "key role" in the transition. He argued on CNN.com that it was "up to the United Nations to assist with the gradual transfer of administrative and economic responsibilities to the present Iraqi institutions according to a realistic timetable and to help the Iraqis draft a constitution and hold elections."

Chirac proposed a two-stage plan for the transfer of power from the U.S. military occupation forces to an independent Iraqi government. The first stage would be a "symbolic transfer" of power from the United States to an Iraqi Governing Council. The second stage, implemented six to nine months later, would involve the actual handing over of control. France promised to train Iraqi police officers and soldiers to aid in the peaceful transition.

But U.S. leaders were determined to maintain control over the reconstruction process. President Bush wanted the UN to play a role in providing food, medicine, and humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq, but he declared that the United States would handle Iraq's political transition.

Views on the Iraq War divide Europe

Throughout its opposition of the war, France enjoyed the support of Germany and its leader, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. But Great Britain and its leader, Prime Minister Tony Blair (see entry), stood firmly on the side of the United States. The war in Iraq thus divided Europe. On September 23, 2003, France, Britain, and Germany held a one-day summit in Berlin in an attempt to settle their differences. "Whatever the differences there have been about the conflict, we all want to see a stable Iraq," Blair told CNN after the meeting.

But Schroder and Chirac felt that significant disagreements remained over the transfer of power to the Iraqi people. Like Chirac, Schroder believed that the United Nations should be given a more prominent role in the quick transition of power to an Iraqi authority. Richard Whitman, a professor at the University of Westminster in London, called the meeting a "major disappointment." He told CNN that they had "hoped for a real push towards some firm agreement, at least among European states. It is very difficult to see where we are going to see some common ground."

Chirac's staunch opposition to the Iraq War led some critics to call him anti-American. Some people in the United States organized boycotts of French goods in protest against Chirac's policies. "When I hear people say I'm anti-American, I'm sad—not angry, but really sad," Chirac told Time. In fact, the French president has long shown a taste for American culture. "When you're in the U.S. with Chirac, there's always a problem," Prime Minister Alain Juppe told Time. "As soon as he sees a fast-food place, he has to stop the car, rush up to the counter and order a hamburger." Chirac also enjoys American music and film and counted the legendary American actor Gregory Peck among his closest friends.

Chirac's opposition to the Iraq War led to a huge increase in his popularity in France. But this increase soon proved to be temporary. His popularity began to decline again after the war ended, as the French people shifted their focus back to domestic issues.

Through victories and setbacks, Chirac has enjoyed unwavering support from his wife, Bernadette. The couple lives in the Elysee Palace, a beautifully decorated eighteenth-century home reserved for French presidents. They have three children. Chirac credits his youngest daughter, Claude, for his election to the presidency of France. She helped him appeal to young voters during his 1995 campaign by organizing town meetings where he could discuss his goals with the people of France.

Where to Learn More

"Chirac: No Veto on Iraq Resolution." CNN.com,http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/22/chirac.iraq/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/22/chirac.iraq/index.html (accessed on March 26, 2004).

"Chirac: U.S. Action Brought Crisis." CNN.com,http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/23/sprj.irq.un.chirac/index.html (accessed March 26, 2004).

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

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

Lawday, David. "The Gallic Spanner in the U.S. War Works: France and America Are Almost Alone These Days in Believing They Have a Civilizing Mission in the World." New Statesman, February 24, 2003.

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