And yet, the character, adaptable, "plastic", continues to intrigue, seduce or tense, without the French managing to identify his multi-faceted personality.

Even starting a second term, at 44, he remains by far the youngest president of the Fifth Republic.

This ambitious man, born in Amiens before setting out to conquer Paris, has achieved his impossible challenges.

Sometimes warm and sometimes brittle, this enarque, who was a finance inspector, investment banker at Rothschild and François Hollande's Minister of the Economy, revealed an impressive work force, the courage to immerse himself in the midst of sometimes hostile crowds and an ability to weather major storms.

President Emmanuel Macron on the steps of the Elysée, February 28, 2022 in Paris Ludovic MARIN AFP

The French have also discovered surprising stubbornness, such as when he refuses to dismiss his trusted man Alexandre Benalla.

Also capable of poker moves, decided alone.

Like his endless "great debates" after the riots of yellow vests.

Or when this son of doctors, disciple of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur, refuses a new confinement in January 2021, defying experts and ministers.

"Fascinating"

Prompt also with small divisive sentences, on the unemployed who would only have to "cross the street" or the refractories to the vaccine that it is a question of "annoying".

So many cookie-cutter judgments for which he apologized, without dissipating the anger.

Against his opponent Marine Le Pen, during the debate between the two rounds, he mastered his attacks, not his facial expressions.

Many have found him to be arrogant, the flaw he is most often blamed for.

To the point of sometimes arousing hatred.

His supporters applaud his intelligence and his perfect knowledge of the files.

Like bewitched.

"Emmanuel is fascinating. Everything about him is fascinating: his background, his intelligence, his vivacity, even his physical power", said one day one of his followers, Christophe Castaner.

Charming the elders, in a hurry to convince, he can spend hours comforting children, the elderly or the victims of life.

And would especially like to deny this label of "president of the rich" which, he says, "hurts".

But he remains out of step with the French, by his success at the top of the class, his chastised vocabulary, his insurance.

Trendy, addicted to messaging, it also has dated references, the nostalgia of a France of yesteryear.

Emmanuel Macron AFP

"I grew up in the memories of my grandmother. I'm out of sync," he admits.

Even his private life, this fusional couple that he forms with his wife Brigitte, 24 years his senior, continues to amaze and unleash gossip.

Conquering at 16 the woman who was then his theater teacher was his first challenge, the one that made him believe that anything was possible.

"He told us it was impossible, we did it," he often says in meetings.

"Without a compass"

But the French remain confused by his "at the same time", a mixture of liberal ingredients, such as the abolition of the ISF (solidarity tax on wealth, editor's note), and floods of social aid, after the "Yellow Vests " or the Covid epidemic.

He claims a balanced action.

"He is a traveler without a compass" and without "any mooring", believes François Hollande, who cultivated an almost filial bond with his former deputy secretary general at the Elysée before feeling "betrayed" forever when the founder of En Marche!

emancipated.

The malaise resurfaced with his campaign program, perceived as right with retirement at 65 and the RSA (Active Solidarity Income, Editor's note) conditioned.

But he also promises social measures, such as the automatic payment of aid.

This broad spectrum attracts all profiles, all rallying points.

"Many of those who accompany him project their political fantasies, plaster their own software on him", observes Philippe Grangeon, his ex-special adviser, in the book "President burglar".

By advocating overcoming the left-right divide, Emmanuel Macron has contributed to the collapse of traditional parties.

Some criticize him for the rise of extremes.

Changed?

Marine Le Pen herself makes this analysis.

"I theorized the end of the right / left divide and stimulated a new globalist / national divide. Emmanuel Macron, sensing this change with a certain political flair, went through the door that we opened", she prides herself in the book "Macron-Le Pen, The Tango of the gravediggers".

And the RN candidate to add: "He has a plasticity, an incredible self-confidence which is at the same time his strength and his weakness".

If he keeps intact his credo of pragmatic reforms and individual success through work, he promises to move forward less abruptly.

"I was saber clear," he admitted last year.

"It was believed that I wanted to reform against people. They have to be taken on board."

"Something has moved in him. He has more seriousness. He is careful. And it hurts to have hurt," says one of his relatives.

His surroundings are no longer the same.

Exit the "Mormons", this band of techno thirty-somethings who formed his close guard in 2017 -Ismael Emelien, Benjamin Griveaux, Sibeth Ndiaye...

Only his two pillars remained: Brigitte and his right arm, the indispensable Alexis Kohler.

During the health crisis and again during the campaign, he said he wanted to "reinvent himself".

He gained five more years to demonstrate it.

© 2022 AFP