I.

Introduction

Jacques Chirac (1932- ), French politician, Prime Minister (1974-1976; 1986-1988), and President of France (1995-2007). Chirac was born in Paris, the son of a bank employee who later joined the Potez aircraft company as an executive. Educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, the National School of Political Sciences, and Harvard University, Chirac served in Algeria before joining the École Nationale d’Administration as a preparation for a career in the French civil service. Later he fell under the spell of Charles de Gaulle on the latter’s return to the forefront of French politics during the Algerian War of Independence.