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He had the sense of the formula and knew how to make good use of it in front of the cameras. If Jacques Chirac, who died Thursday at the age of 86, has conducted his political career with such brilliance, it is also thanks to memorable television performances.
Fabius treated of "pug"
Mayor of Paris and leader of the opposition to the socialist government, Jacques Chirac debated in 1985 with the Prime Minister of the time, Laurent Fabius. And the tone goes up between the two men. "Be nice to let me talk and stop intervening incessantly a little like the pug, is not it," said calmly Chirac. A qualifier that has the gift of annoying his opponent. "Please, you speak to the Prime Minister of France," Fabius waved his hand.
"The noise and the smell"
In 1991, while the National Front climbed in the polls, Jacques Chirac does not hesitate to invest the topics dear to the extreme right. In a speech delivered in Orleans, the mayor of Paris describes "the French worker" who sees on his step "a father, three or four wives and twenty kids, who earn 50,000 francs social benefits without naturally working ". And Chirac to drive the point: "if you add to that the noise and smell, well, the French worker on the landing, he goes crazy." A sentence that will be controversial.
"These black hours forever defile our history"
On July 16, 1995, just elected at the Élysée, Jacques Chirac commemorates the 53rd anniversary of the roundup of Vel 'd'Hiv'. For the first time, a head of state recognizes the responsibility of France in the deportation of Jews under Vichy.
"This is not a method, this is provocation!"
October 1996. Visiting Israel, Jacques Chirac travels through the old city of Jerusalem. But the tone is mounting with the Israeli security services responsible for its protection, which harass journalists and slow it down. In rudimentary English, the president takes on an agent: "you stop now!" A clash against a background of diplomatic tension, while Jacques Chirac declared himself in favor of the creation of a Palestinian state.
"I decided to dissolve the National Assembly"
In April 1997, Jacques Chirac announced in a televised speech the dissolution of the National Assembly. By taking this decision one year before the end of the legislature, the head of state intended to secure a majority until the end of his seven-year term in 2002. Patatras: it is the left who wins the legislative elections, and Chirac will have to undergo five years of cohabitation. One of the most beautiful blunders of the Fifth Republic.
"The Coupe de France ... the World Cup, sorry"
It has often been said that the victory of the French team in the final of the World Cup in July 1998 has undoubtedly served the popularity of Jacques Chirac. Two days after the mythical match, the Head of State receives the world champions at the garden party on July 14 at the Elysee. The occasion of a nice slip when he congratulates Zidane and his friends: "the team of France and the Coupe de France ... the World Cup, sorry!"
"A staggering story"
Mixed with several business throughout his political career, Jacques Chirac often had to explain himself to the cameras. When Le Monde made revelations about the secret funding of the RPR when he was mayor of Paris, the head of state gets carried away during an interview. "There is a story that is staggering," he says in a formula that has remained famous. In 2011, Jacques Chirac will be sentenced to two years in prison suspended in the case of fictitious jobs of the mayor of Paris.
"Our house burns and we look elsewhere"
In 2002, Jacques Chirac intervenes at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg. At the podium, he shouts an alarm for saving the environment: "our house is burning and we are looking elsewhere, we can not say we did not know, let us be careful that the 21st century does not become future generations that of a crime of humanity against life. "
"They are not cattle, they are masterpieces"
A regular at the Salon de l'agriculture, Jacques Chirac liked to show his closeness to growers and breeders. Thus, when he inaugurated the 2005 edition of the show, the head of state is ecstatic with cows Salers: "they are not cattle, they are masterpieces!"
Grilled by Bernadette ...
In 2009, Jacques Chirac left the Elysée for two years. But one of his public appearances in Corrèze will delight the Web. At a vernissage, while Bernadette Chirac gives a speech, her husband chats gallantly with her blonde neighbor. Which is not the taste of the former first lady ...