I was in France when Mitterand died and everyone was talking about his lovechild and I was also in France during the Monica Lewinski scandal. I got so sick of hearing "If he's a good politician, who cares who he's sleeping with?" Seems this is a hottly debated topic once again as presidential candidate Segolene Royal announced her seperation from longtime companion, François Hollande. Apparently, Hollande's extracurricular life was already well known.
Here are a few quotes from an article on 89 Street. I think it show a lot about the French view on politics and love:
"François Mitterrand was President of France despite having a secret (and adulterous) daughter, and that didn't lead anyone to question his competence," huffed a reader. "What about (current President) Nicolas Sarkozy - his wife cheated on him, didn't she, and nobody knows whether they're now living a beautiful Kennedy fantasy or a Potemkin marriage. Leave these
people alone!"
Another representative comment ran, "Do we elect a person or a marriage? (Former Presidents) Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac -- none of them were known for their fidelity to their wives. It didn't stop them running the country for years. Politicians have the right to a private life."
For the entire article, go here.
1 comment:
I agree that "we elect a person and not a mariage", but I do feel that the lifestyle of a president should be considered.
I always thought that presidents were to be looked up to. I mean do we really want our kids to say "mommy, someday I am going to a drunken, adulterous president!"
Then again, we have Bush. He may not be adulterous or a drunk (though he did have a problem with alcohol years ago), he has problems in other areas. Way too much to go into!
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