Paris (AFP)

Inspired by political marketing techniques imported from the United States, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing tried, with varying degrees of success, numerous communication blows in order to modernize political life.

- Accordion and football -

In 1964, then Minister of Finance, VGE dared to appear on TV in a pullover.

We then see him returning to his ministry by metro, in the presence of photographers.

Nine years later, he played the accordion in a plaid shirt and took part, in shorts and crampons, in a football match in Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme), of which he was the mayor.

"A Minister of Finance is a Frenchman like any other," he blurted out.

In addition, he scored a goal!

For the 1974 presidential campaign, he asked for a "communicator" - a profession with a great future - Jacques Hintzy, from the Havas-Conseil agency, whose mantra is: "we elect a man, not a program" .

Close to the snapshot, his campaign photo cheesy the classic poster.

VGE, sitting next to a young girl (her daughter Jacinte, who died in 2018), seems to speak, she listens to him.

Above, the slogan: "Peace and security".

It is the first time that a minister appears with a member of his family for a presidential campaign.

Another famous publicity stunt: the T-shirts of the militants crossed out by "Giscard at the bar".

- A sporty image -

Eager to "relax" society, the youngest elected president (48) begins by going up the Champs-Élysées, not in a jacket and limousine, but in a suit-jacket and on foot.

He sketched a smile, again a first, for his official photo of President taken by Jacques-Henri Lartigue.

He wants to give the image of an accessible and active man.

At the end of 1974, he let himself be photographed in a swimming pool in Martinique, during a meeting with US President Gerald Ford.

During Christmas 74, he invited the garbage collectors of the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to a breakfast at the Élysée Palace and then, during his seven-year term, went to dinner with the French (a supervisor, a firefighter and their families, etc.).

He accompanies Claude François on the piano who sings "Douce nuit" to the Christmas tree at the Elysée Palace in 1975, and in the same year associates his wife Anne-Aymone with the New Year's greetings, an initiative not renewed.

When he skis in Courchevel (Savoie), dozens of journalists follow him.

In the middle of summer 76, the French discovered him swimming in front of the fort of Brégançon (Var), almost like Monsieur Tout-le-Monde!

In 1978, in shorts and all dressed in white, he made the front page of "Tennis magazine", racket in hand.

But he is careful not to communicate about other hobbies, such as his passion for hunting, or even safaris.

There are not many photos showing him hunting.

In addition, he decided in 1977 - an experience that he would not repeat - to open the Élysée to the public.

It is said that, on this July day, he shakes hands with 2,000 people per hour ... Socialist Jack Lang, with his Heritage Days, will take up the idea from 1984.

- "Innovative" -

This communication may seem timid compared to today's practices but it marks a real break, after the conservative presidencies of Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou.

President integrating the codes of his time, VGE "anticipates what will be the presidential style of the 21st century and, in this, he is someone innovative", according to the historian Jean Garrigues on the Atlantico website.

However, this strategy has shown its limits because it has never made it possible to bring the over-educated president with aristocratic manners closer to the working classes.

And his political opponents criticized him for weakening the presidential function with these "gadgets".

"Released in 1974, François Mitterrand will take his revenge in 1981. Political marketing has become commonplace, the designer of the socialist leader's campaign will be Jacques Séguéla", recalled the historian Michel Winock in the journal L'Histoire in 2017 .

© 2020 AFP