INTERVIEW
Whether they are the work of campaign candidates, incumbent presidents, or even party leaders trying to convince their activists, speeches are among the most scrutinized, commented ... and retained figures of political life . Because for the greatest speeches as the most calamitous, their repercussion generally crosses the years. Journalist Michaël Moreau was interested in this exercise in his book The Feathers of Power , and in which he is interested in the history and the preparation of these speeches, in particular by the testimonies of the feathers having participated in their writing behind the scenes. Saturday guest from It happened this week, on Europe 1, the author told some enlightening and funny anecdotes on these speeches, from Mitterrand to François Hollande via Jacques Chirac.
1997: Chirac struggles to explain its dissolution
It is a speech that has been remembered for its calamitous consequences. On April 21, 1997, the President of the Republic Jacques Chirac spoke on television to announce his decision to dissolve the National Assembly , yet dominated by a right-wing majority. A risky decision, which will lead to a bitter defeat in the legislative elections and a victory of the left leading to the third cohabitation of the Fifth Republic. Then pen of the president, it is Christine Albanel, who will be years later Minister of Culture of Nicolas Sarkozy, who was then responsible for preparing the speech to explain an initiative that divided strongly to the right. And in the book, she tells of Chirac's reaction to the reading of the first version. "He said to himself: 'but we do not understand why I dissolved'," recounts Michaël Moreau. "And Christine Albanel answers: 'This is the problem'". And the journalist to continue: "In the end, it was almost impossible mission this speech, because at the base, there was a decision which was not good".
Mitterrand's anger after Bérégovoy's suicide
On May 1, 1993, the suicide of ex-Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy along a Nièvre canal upset France, and further darkened the end of the second seven-year term of François Mitterrand already marked by a defeat in legislative. Pierre Bérégovoy could not bear to be targeted by accusations calling into question his probity. And during the funeral, François Mitterrand delivered an accusing and angry speech . "All the explanations in the world will not justify giving the honor of a man, and ultimately his life, to the dogs," he said.
This formula, the President of the Republic had concocted himself "in Paris-Nevers (where the funeral took place), after a discussion with his adviser Michel Charasse". These words, Mitterrand then layers them "on a small piece of paper, business card format". And this business card, says Michaël Moreau, "stayed on his desk for a long time", before being picked up by Anne Lauvergeon, then adviser to the president. In the book, the former president of the management board of Areva confides her relief when she was able to remove this paper from the office of a president tormented by the drama: "I found the presence of this paper on his deadly desk" . "François Mitterrand and Pierre Bérégovoy were not close, but Bérégovoy's suicide was still very heavy for the President of the Republic," notes Michaël Moreau.
When Fillon and Marine Le Pen share a feather
The anecdote had made the happiness of Internet users and political broadcasts. During the campaign for the presidential elections of 2017, for her speech on May 1 , the president of RN Marine Le Pen was largely inspired by a speech given a few days earlier by the candidate LR François Fillon. A plagiarism caused in reality by the former MEP Paul-Marie Coûteaux, "who had been the pen of François Fillon during the campaign and the pen of Marine Le Pen during the period between the two towers, and who had sent the same text without warning ", explains Michael Moreau. An episode that had further weakened the campaign of Marine Le Pen, before his failed debate against Emmanuel Macron.
To talk about France, Marine Le Pen is forced to plagiarize WORD FOR WORD a speech by Fillon ... # Imposturepic.twitter.com / BasTJsgLWf
- Ridicule TV (@RidiculeTV) May 1, 2017The "punchline" on finance at Le Bourget? "Signed François Hollande"
Propelled candidate of the PS for the presidential of 2012, François Hollande had to mark the spirits with his first big speech at Le Bourget , in January 2012. And the former boss of the PS had then known how to find a formula remained in the memories, while s later proving a ball during a five-year period severely judged by part of his own camp. "My real adversary, he has no name, no face, no party. He will never run for office. He will therefore not be elected. And yet he governs. This adversary is the world of finance ", chanted François Hollande in front of a conquered crowd.
>> Find all of Patrick Cohen's programs in replay and podcast here
"It's signed François Hollande", confirms Michael Moreau. "He says it: 'it is from my hand'. And all the feathers, which nevertheless claim a part of the speech, affirm that it is indeed from François Hollande and that this sentence even came quite early in the brief given to the various people who may have contributed to this speech. "
On the other hand, they will be less numerous to claim a few years later the drafting of the controversial speech of November 2015 before the Congress, during which the president proposes the institution of the deprivation of nationality for the authors of acts of terrorism. "There is no one left," remembers Michael Moreau, who nevertheless specifies that this speech had been "not badly delocalized". "Elysée advisers contributed to it, but not only. It was much relocated to Matignon, to the Interior. This may also explain why no one really claims the story," he concludes.