Nicolas Sarkozy summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Nicolas Sarkozy.

Nicolas Sarkozy, (born Jan. 28, 1955, Paris, France), President of France (2007–12). An ambitious and highly skilled politician, Sarkozy served as mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to 2002, when he became interior minister in the administration of Pres. Jacques Chirac. In 2004 he was named finance minister, but he left the post later that year to become president of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement. During his second stint as interior minister (2005–07), Sarkozy had to contend with three weeks of rioting in the less-affluent suburbs of Paris and other cities. His hard-line stance on law and order as well as his call for tougher immigration laws won him many supporters. In 2007 he was elected president of France. Active in European affairs, Sarkozy assumed a leadership role in the response to the European sovereign debt crisis. However, his domestic support eroded as France faced high unemployment and economic uncertainty. In the 2012 election he was defeated by Socialist challenger François Hollande.

president Summary

President, in government, the officer in whom the chief executive power of a nation is vested. The president of a republic is the head of state, but the actual power of the president varies from country to country; in the United States, Africa, and Latin America the presidential office is charged

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

France Summary

France, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the