François Hollande

François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (fʁɑ̃swa ɔlɑ̃d; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who was the President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra from 2012 to 2017. Hollande was previously the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008, the mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008, and the President of the Corrèze General Council from 2008 to 2012. Hollande also served in the National Assembly of France twice for the department of Corrèzes 1st Constituency from 1988 to 1993, and again from 1997 to 2012.Born in Rouen, and raised in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hollande began his political career as a special advisor to newly elected President François Mitterrand, before serving as a staffer for Max Gallo, the governments spokesman. After a brief stint as a municipal councillor for Ussel, he was elected as the countrys inaugural First Secretary of the Socialist Party. After the triumph of the left in the 2004 regional elections, Hollande was cited as a potential presidential candidate, and resigned as First Secretary, and was immediately elected to replace Jean-Pierre Dupont as the president of the General Council of Corrèze in 2008. In 2011, Hollande announced that he would be a candidate in the primary election to select the Socialist Party presidential nominee; he won the nomination, and on 6 May 2012, he was elected President during the second-round of voting with 51.7% of the vote.During his tenure, Hollande legalized same-sex marriage by passing Bill no. 344, reformed labour laws and credit training programs, withdrew French combat troops present in the Afghanistan military intervention, concluded a E.U. directive through a Franco-German contract, and led the country through the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. He was a leading proponent of NATOs 2011 military intervention in Libya, and has sent troops to Mali and the Central African Republic. Some of his actions and opinions regarding EU mandatory migrant quotas, the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Brexit, and the proposed constitutional amendment regarding the removal of French citizenship from suspected terrorists, have drawn domestic and international controversy. As a member of the G8, Hollande has struggled to revive the economy of France in ways that sparked long-term economic stimulus by increasing taxes and seeing unemployment up to 10% as of December 2016. However, under his term, France became the most toured country in the world, and known as a nation of open markets, regulatory efficiency, rule of law and limited governmental intervention.Hollandes approval ratings fluctuated wildly during his time as president: Upon being elected, he was one of the most popular heads-of-state in the European Union, with a nearly 60% approval rating. Due to lack of economic development and domestic troubles over his tenure, he faced spikes and downturns in approval rates, ultimately making him one of the most unpopular presidents in the countrys history. On December 1, 2016, he announced he would not seek re-election in the 2017 French presidential election, and later endorsed Emmanuel Macron, who would go on to win the election.

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