Thank you François Mitterrand. Yes, it is also thanks to the memory of the statesman, so far the only left-wing French President of the Fifth Republic, that François Hollande managed to win. Of his political father (in 1981 he was called to the Elysée as a collaborator at the age of just 27), he has resurrected his posture and words, in an almost superstitious way. Politically, he has recovered the strategy: the alliance with the entire left, including the extreme.
Nicolas Sarkozy even made fun of him for this, saying several times during the campaign that his adversary was mimicking Mitterrand: the tone of voice during public speeches, that contained anger, a certain gravity. But even Paul Quilès, who was strategic director for the socialist candidate in that 1981 electoral campaign, admitted the existence of "whole formulas and expressions reused by Hollande". As during the TV debate, the Hollande-Sarkozy clash, when the former, twice, said: «It is all of France's strength that we need». Equally the same slogan adopted by Mitterrand between the first and second round in 1981.
In recent months Hollande has been seen several times with «Politique 2», the legendary collection of political speeches given by Mitterrand between 1977 and 1981, in his hands. And so it is no coincidence that the new President peppered his speeches with Mitterrandian terms such as "rassemblement", gathering together, and "redressement", reorganization. Sarkozy has been constantly defined as "the outgoing candidate", an expression coined by King François for Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, his rival in 1981, like Sarkozy today, outgoing and defeated President. Hollande even went as far as organizing his last meeting before the runoff in Toulouse, where Mitterrand always ended his campaigns. Almost as if the recovery of the putative father bordered on superstition. In short: he did it, let's do everything like him.
All these apparently marginal elements actually betray a deeper common substratum: Mitterrand managed to win only with the support of the Communists, then very strong, thanks to a personality like Georges Marchais. Just as Hollande could not have established himself today without the support of Jean-Luc Mélénchon's Front de gauche, one of the surprises of the first round. All-round alliance in the left. Which Mitterrand paid for with a series of concessions (and related problems) in the first years of his presidency, with an economic policy that soon revealed his limitations. For Hollande now one of the bets is just being able to extricate himself from the alliance with the extreme left.
On the other hand, the context of 1981 was very similar to that of today. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, like Sarkozy in 2007, had come to power with the image of a new man. To be precise, he was inspired by John Kennedy. He wanted to rejuvenate the right and more generally France. Like Sarkozy, Giscard d'Estaing also made many promises: too many, most of which remained unfulfilled. Like Sarkozy, he began 'with skyrocketing popularity and ended up' very low in the polls, also due to certain drifts in his private life. The accusation of having received diamonds as a gift from the African dictator Bokassa. Or that strange episode, one night in 1974, when the President, regularly married, had an accident in Paris with the Ferrari loaned by director Roger Vadim. And a beautiful woman on board. The French discovered her double life. The side of him, we would say today, is bling bling: the same criticisms directed today at Sarkozy and his Rolex watches.
Hollande as Mitterrand. Well, let's take it easy, anyway. Hollande uses the social democracy of Jacques Delors as a precise reference. Mitterrand's references were much more ambiguous. He was a very Machiavellian character, ideologically difficult to classify. As for his character, the differences are stark. As an older generation socialist, Louis Mermaz, reminded Le Monde, «when Mitterrand entered a room, he walked slowly and waited, with a serious look, for silence to prevail. When he finished his speech, he let himself be applauded, without smiling. He was a commander, there's nothing to say. Hollande is different: he smiles, opens his arms, even gives a few kisses ». Even the closest collaborators, with very few exceptions, called Mitterrand "Monsieur le président". Hollande everyone calls him François. At least until today.
