Word: frenchmen
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Then, as the backdrop shifts to fluffy clouds against an azure sky, the voice says, "But France remains calm." A series of happy scenes shows Frenchmen picking grapes, at work in modern factories, riding horses, playing soccer. A crescendo: French-made washing machines, Renault cars, film stars and ballet scenes spell out progress and the good life. Then comes the man who claims responsibility for this idyllic island of well-being in a time of global torment: President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 55, pictured at his desk in the Elysée Palace, meeting foreign leaders, affably...
...been difficult for Giscard to counter a steady stream of attacks against his presidential style and personality. He remains a surprisingly enigmatic figure for many Frenchmen. Is he a liberal reformer or a conservative? Even his supporters disagree. Does he favor firmness or conciliation toward the Soviet Union? The answer is not clear; some of the President's policies seem refined to the point of ambivalence. Mitterrand accuses him of a monarchical style of government. Chirac, Giscard's former Premier, snipes away at what he sees as Giscard's vacillation and weakness in foreign affairs Michel Debr...
...bomb blast ripped through the airport terminal. An emotional Giscard denounced the attack as "cowardly" and vowed not to waver from his schedule. Such rare passionate moments aside, however, even one of the President's most trusted aides admits that "he has not won the hearts of Frenchmen. Giscard is from the Auvergne region, where the people are known for holding in their emotions " Indeed, the President rarely seems genuinely comfortable with crowds while campaigning. "He's not a speaker for the masses," notes Harvard University Professor Stanley Hoffmann, a longtime observer of French politics...
...riding in state down the Champs-Elysées for his inauguration On one occasion he invited a group of Paris garbage men to the Elysée Palace for breakfast. Such superficial tokens of change may have pleased the young but they were too much for tradition-minded Frenchmen who greeted the new style with ridicule. Explains a Western diplomat in Paris: "The French don't want a Jimmy Carter-like President." Wounded Giscard dropped his experiments and withdrew to the dignity of his office...
...applied strong medicine: austerity, tighter credit, cutbacks in social spending. At the same time, he and the President tried to restore a greater measure of free enterprise to the centrally controlled French economy. The treatment won admiration abroad, but not much love at home. Polls show that 65% of Frenchmen have no confidence in Barre's performance. On the other hand, only 52% hold the same view of Giscard...