Word: mitterrand
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Paris editor described France's fiercely contested presidential-election campaign, continued right down to a bitter end. At times, as last Sunday's election approached, the two contenders seemed more interested in hurling insults than in dealing with the issues. Socialist François Mitterrand, running with Communist backing, accused Finance Minister Valery Giscard d'Estaing of being the tool of "these princes, these dukes, these millionaires [who] have not had a new-idea in 15 years." The patrician Giscard in turn scourged his left-wing opponent for running "a violent and nasty campaign" and for trying...
Because Finance Minister Giscard is identified nearly everywhere as the author of the quintessentially Gaullist policy of economic independence from the U.S. or any other country, he seemed the inevitable second-round beneficiary of almost all of the Chaban vote. Mitterrand, however, was not about to let Gaullists forget that he had something to offer them too. "There exist many Frenchmen who identify themselves with the history of Gaullism, but not with the right of big business," he declared. He reminded Gaullists that Giscard was partly responsible for the general's forced retirement in 1969 when Giscard urged...
...both candidates postured in similar quasi-Gaullist roles, Frenchmen were left to ponder the very real differences between them: Mitterrand, the solid, earnest leader committed to social reform but allied with the lockstep Communist Party, and Giscard, the cool, successful administrator concerned with growth but seeming at times too far removed from human needs. Said one Gaullist Deputy: "My heart says Mitterrand. My mind says Giscard...
That conflict was finally brought into sharp focus Friday night as the two candidates met in a Nixon-Kennedy-style TV debate. Obviously concerned about his aloof image, Giscard at one point snapped at his opponent, "You don't have a monopoly on the heart, M. Mitterrand. I am equally concerned about the social problems of France." The Finance Minister promised to give priority to alleviating the problems of the underprivileged in French society. But Mitterrand wanted to know why Giscard had not advanced such programs during his years in government. The Socialist vowed to pursue new policies which...
...past," charged Giscard. "I tried to talk of the future, but it is impossible to debate the future with you!" Replied Mitterrand: "Change in France is not to allow you to continue your antisocial programs." About 20 million Frenchmen watched the exchange, but the two were so evenly matched that neither seemed to have won a clear advantage...