François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he was the first left-wing politician to assume the presidency under the Fifth Republic. Reflecting family influences, François Mitterrand started political life on the Catholic nationalist right. He served under the Vichy Regime during its earlier years. Subsequently he joined the Resistance, moved to the left, and held ministerial office several times under the Fourth Republic. François Mitterand opposed de Gaulle's establishment of the Fifth Republic. Although at times a politically isolated figure, François Mitterrand outmanoeuvered rivals to become the left's standard bearer at every presidential election from 1965–88, with the exception of 1969. François Mitterrand was elected President at the 1981 presidential election. He was re-elected in 1988 and remained in office until 1995. François Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time. In the event, the Communists were boxed in as junior partners and, rather than taking advantage, saw their support erode. They left the cabinet in 1984. Early in his first term, François Mitterrand followed a radical left-wing economic agenda, including nationalisation of key firms, but after two years, with the economy in crisis, he reversed course. He pushed a socially liberal agenda with reforms such as the abolition of the death penalty, the 39-hour work week, and the end of a government monopoly in radio and television broadcasting. His foreign and defense policies built on those of his Gaullist predecessors. His partnership with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl advanced European integration via the Maastricht Treaty, but he reluctantly accepted German reunification. During his time in office, he was a strong promoter of culture and implemented a range of costly "Grands Projets". He is the only French President to ever have named a female Prime Minister, Édith Cresson, in 1991. François Mitterrand was twice forced by the loss of a parliamentary majority into "cohabitation governments" with conservative cabinets led, respectively, by Jacques Chirac (1986–1988), and Édouard Balladur (1993–1995). Less than eight months after leaving office, Mitterrand died from the prostate cancer he had successfully concealed for most of his presidency. Beyond making the French left electable, François Mitterrand presided over the rise of the Socialist Party to dominance of the left, and the decline of the once-mighty Communist Party (as a share of the popular vote in the first presidential round, the Communists shrank from a peak of 21.27% in 1969 to 8.66% in 1995, at the end of François Mitterrand's second term). ... Source: Article "François Mitterrand" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Movie | La Revanche de Bernadette Chirac | Self (archive footage) | 2023-10-08 |
Movie | La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président | Self (archive footage) | 2022-01-07 |
Movie | De Charles de Gaulle à Emmanuel Macron, les gardiens de l'empire | Self (archive footage) | 2022-03-09 |
Movie | TGV, génie français du rail | Self (archive footage) | 2022-11-28 |
Movie | 10 mai 1981, le jour du grand soir | Self (archive footage) | 2021-05-10 |
Movie | Mitterrand et la télé | Self (archive footage) | 2021-05-11 |
Movie | François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story | Self (archive footage) | 2021-05-16 |
Movie | 10 mai 1981 : Changer la vie ? | Self (archive footage) | 2021-05-11 |
Movie | Mitterrand, président culturel | Self (archive footage) | 2021-05-12 |
Movie | Entretien politique : Histoire et mode d'emploi | Self (archive footage) | 2020-07-13 |
Movie | Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party | Self (archive footage) | 2020-12-12 |
Movie | Laboratory Greece | Self (archive footage) | 2019-12-08 |
Movie | Danielle Mitterrand, une certaine idée de la France | Self (archive footage) | 2019-03-09 |
Movie | Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément... Les Présidents et les Français | Self (archive footage) | 2019-10-02 |
Movie | 1974, l'alternance Giscard | Self (archive footage) | 2019-10-05 |
Movie | Roland Dumas, le mauvais garçon de la république | self | 2018-04-12 |
Movie | 1958: Those Who Said No | Self (archive footage) | 2018-10-06 |
Movie | Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe | Self (archive footage) | 2018-07-17 |
Movie | Mr & Mme Adelman | Self (archive footage) | 2017-03-08 |
Movie | De Gaulle, the Last King of France | Self (archive footage) | 2017-03-27 |
Movie | Le Brio | Self (archive footage) | 2017-11-22 |
Movie | François Mitterrand : Bâtisseur de mystères | François Mitterrand ( Archives ) | 2017-04-04 |
Movie | The Incredible Mr. Piccoli | Self - Politician (archive footage) | 2017-05-28 |
Movie | Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne | Self (archive footage) | 2016-03-13 |
Movie | Laissez-faire | Self (archive footage) | 2015-01-30 |
Movie | Les vendredis d'Apostrophes | Self (archive footage) | 2015-11-06 |
Movie | Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles | Self - Politician (archive footage) | 2014-12-12 |
Movie | Owners of Portugal | Self - President of France (archive footage) | 2012-04-25 |
Movie | De Gaulle, le géant aux pieds d'argile | Self (archive footage) | 2012-06-12 |
Movie | François Mitterrand, à bout portant : 1993-1996 | Self (archive footage) | 2011-05-10 |
Movie | François Mitterrand et la guerre d'Algérie | Self | 2010-11-01 |
Movie | L'Amour Fou | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2010-09-22 |
Movie | Ségo et Sarko sont dans un bateau... | Self (archive footage) | 2007-04-04 |
Movie | 1974, une partie de campagne | Self | 2002-02-20 |
Movie | Who Is Bernard Tapie? | Self | 2001-09-08 |
Series | François Mitterrand : le roman du pouvoir | Self (archive footage) | 2000-10-09 |
Movie | Notre Dame de la Croisette | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1983-02-23 |
Movie | The Society of the Spectacle | Self (archive footage) | 1974-05-01 |