Giscard d'Estaing, Valéry

(1926- )

   statesman

   The president of France (1974 to 1981) who continued the conservative policies of his predecessors in the Fifth Republic, valéry Giscard d'Estaing was born in Koblenz, Germany, and educated at the École polytechnique and the École nationale d'administration. He began his career in 1952 in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, where he served as assistant director of the minister's staff. Elected to the National Assembly in 1956 and 1958, he was named secretary of state for finance in 1959, and in 1962 became minister of finance. When his policies, which lowered inflation, caused also a slight recession, he left that post (1986) and returned to the National Assembly. In 1969, he joined the government of georges pompidou as minister of finance and economic affairs and, after Pompidou's death in April 1974, was elected president of the republic by 50.81 percent of the vote over françois mitterrand (see republic, fifth). Proposing closer political and economic ties among the European nations, Giscard established personal ties with other world leaders. He also sought to end inflation in France, presenting in 1976 a wide range of economic reforms. He was, however, unable to halt the economy's deterioration caused by worldwide recession. Defeated by Mitterrand in the 1981 election, he later served as president of the regional council of Auvergne (1986) and of the UDF (1988-96). Giscard has outlined his political ideas especially in two works: Démocratie française (1976) and Le Pouvoir et la Vie (1988-91).