A soldier during the Second World War, he was taken prisoner and escaped in 1939. François Mitterrand began working in 1942 for the Vichy government, but in 1943 he joined the ranks of the Resistance. At the Liberation, he was appointed minister. Opposed to the return of General de Gaulle and the promulgation of a new constitution in 1958, he left his ministerial functions.
His political ambitions led him to stand for the presidential elections in 1965, then in 1974. Mitterrand was finally elected in May 1981 against Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He is the first president of the Republic from the socialist camp to be elected under the V th Republic. He was re-elected for a second term in 1988. He left office in 1995 and died shortly afterwards, in 1996.
During his long mandate, Mitterrand had to manage two cohabitations with right-wing governments. He passed important social laws, such as the introduction of 39 hours and the abolition of the death penalty.
1916 - 1996
Status
Politician