At the end of 12 roller-coaster years as president, the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac offered a warm and vibrant farewell to the nation in his final televised national address this evening. France's grandfatherly president was visibly touched as he spoke the words: "I want to tell you about the strength of the link that, at the bottom of my heart, unites me with each and every one of you. This link is one of respect . . . of admiration. It is one of affection for you, for the people of France. And I want to tell you to what extent I have confidence in you."
It was vintage late-era Chirac. And in a country whose leadership has been cold and distant, it marked a strikingly human contrast to other presidential departures, which have often been tinged with tragedy. President Georges Pompidou, who suffered from a mysterious "flu," suddenly died in office in 1974 from what turned out to be a rare cancer. The ailing François Mitterrand--who also suffered from cancer and who died within a year of departing the Élysée Palace in 1995--gave no farewell speech at all, simply issuing a farewell declaration. And then there was the icy departure of the youngest and most physically active president, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1981. In a televised appearance that satirists continue to mock with striking regularity a quarter of a century later, d'Estaing ended a monotone televised adieu to the nation with an awkward pause and then the word, "Goodbye," before standing up and quietly leaving the room as the camera continued to film his empty chair.
President Chirac's five-minute farewell, by contrast, was full of the kind of love that he has taken to expressing in recent months; even if his lucidity about the state of the nation is questionable. He encouraged France to follow the path that "we" have already undertaken in order to enjoy greater progress and prosperity (even though Nicolas Sarkozy has made eminently clear that he plans a major overhaul of the French economic model). Chirac also spoke a bit optimistically of France as a land of equal opportunity and solidarity that is a driving force in European construction, even adding that it is a "generous nation, at the forefront" of global challenges involving peace, development and the ecology.
As of late Wednesday morning, the legacy of Chirac's presidency will be left to historians. The former president and his wife, Bernadette, will provisionally move into a luxurious two-story Parisian apartment owned by the family of former Lebanese prime minister and personal friend Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in Beirut in 2005. After a vacation to an unpublicized location, Chirac promises to oversee the creation of an international foundation for sustainable development and a "dialogue of cultures," following in the footsteps of former U.S. presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton who have taken their big-issue shows around the globe.
Ultimately, despite his rose-colored view of the France he leaves Sarkozy and his hashed-over weaknesses, the French remain fond of Chirac, the man; they simply don't think much of his presidency. Fifty-four percent of French people, according to a recent survey by the BVA polling firm said that his tenure was "bad," while 44 percent believe the opposite. "Still, a political survivor like Chirac knows that public perceptions are ever-evolving. "I know that the new president of the republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, will have in his heart to drive the country further into the future, and all my wishes accompany him in this mission," Chirac said, noting that the job is "the most beautiful that exists," and the most demanding. If Sarkozy's promised mega-makeover upsets the balances that Chirac labored so hard to retain, without making the French feel like their lives are improving, it just might spur a wave of nostalgia for the Chirac years.
