Chirac << shee RAK >>, Jacques Rene (1932-2019), served as president of France from 1995 to 2007. As president, Chirac sought to advance France’s role as a leading country of Europe and the world. He gave France a strong voice in European Union affairs. He also became a leading opponent of the Iraq War, the United States-led war in Iraq that began in 2003.
Chirac was born in Paris on Nov. 29, 1932. In 1959, he graduated from the National School of Administration and began a career in government service. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, he held various offices in the cabinets of several prime ministers of France. His offices included minister of agriculture and minister of the interior.
In 1976, Chirac founded the political party Rally for the Republic (RPR), which became one of France’s leading conservative parties. In 2002, RPR merged with several other conservative parties to form the Union for a Popular Movement (UPM).
Chirac served as prime minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988. He served as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1981 and 1988.
In 2011, Chirac was convicted of misusing public funds and abusing public confidence during his time as Paris’s mayor. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence. Chirac became the first former French head of state to be convicted of crimes since Philippe Pétain in 1945. Pétain was imprisoned for collaborating with the Nazis during World War II (1939-1945). Chirac died on Sept. 26, 2019.
