François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande is a French politician who served as President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra from 2012 to 2017. He earlier served as first secretary of the Socialist Party (1997–2008).
Background
François Hollande was born on August 12, 1954, in Rouen, France. His father, Georges Gustave Hollande, was an ENT doctor and held a far-right political view. His mother, Nicole Frédérique Marguerite Tribert, was a social worker. The family moved to Paris when Hollande was 13.
Education
François started his education at Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle in Rouen. When he turned thirteen the family moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine in the suburbs of Paris. There he enrolled at Lycée Pasteur, a secondary school in the locality.
After graduating from secondary school, François attended the École des Hautes Études Commerciales and passed out from there in 1975. Next, he enrolled at the Institut de Sciences Politiques and finally at the École Nationale d'Administration, from where he passed out in 1980. He also has a bachelor degree in law from Panthéon-Assas University.
Hollande joined the Socialist Party in 1979, while he was still a student at École Nationale d'Administration and was spotted by Jacques Attali, the advisor to President Mitterrand. After passing out he entered Cour des comptes, a quasi judicial body under the French government, as a councilor.
In 1981, Hollande challenged future President Chirac for the French Assembly seat of Corrèze department in central France, but lost. He was then appointed as an economic adviser in the administration of President Francois Mitterrand. Later he was sent to work under the government spokesperson Max Gallo.
In 1983, Hollande became a municipal councilor for Ussel, a commune in the Corrèze department. In 1988, he again contested for the National Assembly seat from Corrèze and won. He lost the seat in the 1993 election due to right wing wave that engulfed the country during the period.
At that time, the Socialist Party was also undergoing a phase of internal struggle with different leaders trying to assert their authorities. Hollande tried to reconcile the different warring groups. Ultimately Lionel Jospin assumed the leadership of the party. Under him Hollande became the official party spokesperson.
Then in 1997, Jospin became the Prime Minister of a cohabitation government under President Chirac. This is also the year when Hollande regained his National Assembly seat from Corrèze.
On becoming Prime Minister, Jospin appointed Hollande to the post of the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, a position he held until 2008. During this period Hollande’s hold within the party became so strong that many began to refer to him as the ‘Vice Prime Minister of France’.
In 2001, Hollande became the Mayor of Tulle, the capital of Corrèze department. Although he held the position for seven years, he was not disconnected from national politics. Contrarily, the shock defeat of Jospin in 2002 presidential election and his subsequent resignation made Hollande the party’s public face in the legislative election.
However, 2002 was a tough year for the Socialist Party. Although Hollande was able to retain his own seat at Corrèze and limit the defeat to some extent, the party lost the election on the whole. In spite of that he was reelected as the First Secretary in the 2003 party congress
In 2004 regional election, a left coalition headed by Socialist under Hollande won the twenty of the twenty two regions in Metropolitan France, consisting of mainland France and nearby islands.
With such a win, Hollande became the natural choice for the 2007 Presidential election. However, a large faction within the party opposed it and ultimately, his live-in partner Ségolène Royal was nominated to run the Presidential election. Unfortunately, she lost to Nicolas Sarkozy.
In 2005, Hollande was reelected as the First Secretary of the Socialist party; but his hold over the party began to wane from now on. Many blamed him for Royal’s defeat in the 2007 Presidential election. When his term as First Secretary ended in 2008 he did not seek reelection.
In April 2008, Hollande was elected as the President of the General Council of Corrèze. In March 2011, he was reelected to the same post. Soon, he announced his candidature in the forthcoming primary election for selection of the presidential nominee.
In this election, Hollande was faced with five other contestants including IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his former partner Ségolène Royal. While Strauss-Kahn was all time favorite, he had to leave the election after an alleged assault charge in New York. With it Hollande’s position as the frontrunner was established.
Hollande won the party nomination on October 16, 2011 receiving 56% of the vote. He also gained the support of the other candidates and began to get ready for the 2012 Presidential election.
Hollande launched his campaign at a rally at Le Bourget on January 22, 2012. It was attended by 25,000 people. On January 26, 2012, he released his manifesto outlining his policies. It contained sixty propositions.
Most of the propositions were aimed at improving the financial condition of the nation while some like granting marriage and adoption rights to LGT couples were of social relevance. In his manifesto he stressed on increasing the tax on the wealthy and the corporate, reducing the retirement age, creating 60,000 teaching jobs, promoting more industries etc.
The manifesto was strongly criticized by the incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who was running for his second and final term. After an initial close run, Hollande won the election comfortably. He was elected the President of French Republic on May 6, 2012 with 51.7% of the vote. With it, he also became the Co Prince of Andorra.
(Les lecons du pouvoir (French Edition) [Francois Hollande...)
Religion
Personally, he is an atheist. In an interview he had said that he respects all religions, but does not belong to any particular faith.
Politics
He joined the socialist party in 1979.
As President, Hollande promised an early withdrawal of French combat troops present in Afghanistan in 2012. He also pledged to conclude a new contract of Franco-German partnership, advocating the adoption of a Directive on the protection of public services. Hollande has proposed "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters, and the establishment of a common military headquarters". As well as this, Hollande has expressed a wish to "combine the positions of the presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council (currently held by José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy respectively) into a single office and that it should be directly chosen" by the members of the European Parliamen.
On 11 January 2013, Hollande authorised the execution of Operation Serval, which aimed to curtail the activities of Islamist extremists in the north of Mali. The intervention was popularly supported in Mali, as Hollande promised that his government would do all it could to "rebuild Mali". During his one-day visit to Bamako, Mali's capital, on 2 February 2013, he said that it was "the most important day in his political life." In 2014, Hollande took some of these troops out of Mali and spread them over the rest of the Sahel under Operation Barkhane, in an effort to curb jihadist militants.
Hollande made a state visit to the United States in February 2014; a state dinner was given in his honor by U.S. President Barack Obama.
On 27 February 2014, Hollande was a special guest of honor in Abuja, received by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in celebration of Nigeria's amalgamation in 1914, a 100-year anniversary. In July 2014, Hollande expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, and told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "France strongly condemns these aggressions [by Hamas]."
In September 2015, Hollande warned former Eastern Bloc countries against rejecting the EU mandatory migrant quotas, saying: "Those who don't share our values, those who don't even want to respect those principles, need to start asking themselves questions about their place in the European Union".
Hollande supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, re-supplying the Saudi military. France authorised $18 billion (€16 billion) in arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2015.
Views
Hollande’s first year as the French President was dominated by economic problems like record unemployment and low consumer confidence. His first priority was to tackle that. At the same time, he also paid equal attention to foreign relation and met heads of different government to tackle Euro zone debt crisis.
Hollande emphasized on generating growth. However, by end of the year he proposed higher value-added tax, a new corporate tax credit and also cuts in state spending. By the end of second year, there were indications that the country had officially come out of recession, but French economy remained stagnant.
At the same time, Hollande paid equal attention to various other issues. On May 18, 2013, he signed the bill, which legalized same-sex marriage and the adoption rights of LGBT couples. He also undertook labor reforms that would make France industry-friendly and at the same time are fair on its workforce.
Hollande is equally keen on tackling Islamist terrorism and has sent troops to Mali to oust the militants from the country. After the November 2015 attack on Paris by the ISIS, Hollande declared that France was at war with the group.
Membership
Socialist Party (France)
,
Paris France
1979
Personality
He calls himself "Mr. Normal."
François Hollande possesses a great talent for creativity and self expression. Many writers, poets, actors and musicians are born under the 3 Life Path. François is witty, possesses a gift for gab, and savors the limelight. His talent for the expressive arts is so abundant that Hollande may well have felt drawn to becoming an artist while still very young. François Hollande's artistic abilities can only be developed, however, through discipline and commitment to the true development of his talent. Commitment, concentration and hard work are the only means of bringing forth his talent.
Thanks to his gift for self-expression, François can be the life of the party, and the center of attention. However, he could easily squander his talent by becoming a social butterfly. François' creativity is the gift that can give him the comfort and luxury he desires, but not without continual focus and discipline. Hollande is optimistic and possesses the resilience to overcome many setbacks. He is socially active, popular, and inspires people with his sunny "happy go lucky" attitude. François Hollande can be generous to a fault. Many people born under the 3 Life Path have difficulty handling money because they can be disorganized and not particularly serious about their responsibilities. François is emotional and vulnerable. When hurt, he withdraws into a cloud of silence, eventually emerging from his reticence with jokes and laughter that cover up his true feelings. He can become moody and cynical when depressed. Hollande can succumb to sarcastic remarks, which can be painful to those around him.
Interests
Sport & Clubs
Football
Connections
While a student at Ecole Nationale d'Administration University, Hollande met and began dating Ségolène Royal. They lived as domestic partners but did not marry, having four children together. Royal had political aspirations of her own and, in 2007, she ran for the presidency against Hollande's wishes. A few weeks after her defeat, the couple announced their separation.
Mere days after they made the announcement, Royal published a book accusing Hollande of having an affair with Valerie Trierweiler, a political journalist with Paris Match. Hollande admitted to the affair, and the couple went public with their relationship.
In January 2014, photos published in Closer magazine allegedly showed Hollande being taken via a scooter to a Paris apartment that had recently been lent to French actress Julie Gayet, unveiling their secret romance. Hollande and Trierweiler subsequently split, with the journalist going on to publish a tell-all book about their time together.
François Hollande : discours du Bourget et autres discours de la campagne présidentielle (French Edition)
François Hollande revient de loin : peu croyaient en ses chances de remporter les primaires socialistes contre Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Pour gagner les présidentielles, il veut à présent effacer son image d'homme hésitant aux projets flous. Au Bourget, il apparaît comme un tribun au verbe brillant et à la gestuelle mitterrandienne, à la Maison des Métallos il détaille son programme, à Rouen il attaque le bilan de Nicolas Sarkozy. . .