Valerie Giscard dEstaing
About Valerie Giscard dEstaing
The third President of the Fifth Republic. Giscard modernized French society by legalizing abortion, lowering the voting age to 18, and instituting divorce by mutual consent. He was a centrist who tried to move beyond Gaullism. His presidency was hurt by economic recession and his perceived aloofness. He lost reelection to Mitterrand in 1981. Giscard later wrote a novel about a romance, believed to be based on his relationship with Princess Diana. He was the longest lived French president, dying in 2020 at age 94.
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