Nicolas Sarkozy has become the new French president. After being elected he had two weeks to form his government and effectively take the reins of his five-year term. Before him, several French presidents were known for their blunders and mishaps. Here are three in particular…
The President who fell from a train
Under the 3rd Republic, Paul Deschanel had only been president several months, from February to September of 1920. Though it’s true at this time the French President held no where near the prestige of today, his removal from office nevertheless marked the history of the French Republic. This decision, though extremely rare, followed on the heels of some highly unusual events. On May 23rd, 1920, the president was traveling by train. Suffering from vertigo and sleep-walking, he leaned against the window and fell from the train. At this time, pictures of public figures were not as widely published and the rail worker that found him, wearing pajamas and quite bloody, had trouble believing that this man was the president of France. Popular legend recounts that the station master’s wife declared, "I knew he was a gentleman; he had clean feet!” It took several hours for his staff to realize that he was missing.
The story made for a good laugh throughout the country but destroyed the credibility of the Chief of State who was suspected of having mental illnesses and, subsequently, whose ability to govern was put in question. Several weeks later, the president was caught in the middle of the night bathing in a pond in the Rambouillet Chateau park.
The Interim President
A candidate ill-suited for the presidency, the senator Alain Poher nevertheless would twice exercise the highest of executive functions. Even better, he did so having never been elected as the constitution provides for the president of the senate to assume the presidency in the case of incapacity or death. In 1969, Alain Poher replaced General de Gaulle who had just resigned. The experience put the idea in his head to run in the next elections but he was beaten by Georges Pompidou. Five years later, he replaced the very same Pompidou who died in office.
The Death of the Ladies’ Man President
Félix Faure, president from 1895 to 1899, is perhaps the only president better known for the circumstances of his death than anything he accomplished during his term. February 16, 1899, the president called Marguerite Steinheil, his mistress of two years, to visit him at the Elysée. Several minutes later, the palace staff found an ailing president and his mistress hastily getting dressed. Here again popular legend has twisted reality, recounting that the president died in the arms of his mistress when actually he died several hours later. Another anecdote tells that when then priest asked if the president still had his "connaissance" (that is, if he was still conscious), an employee replied "no sir, we showed her out the side door.."
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