WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.960 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. We have waded 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:07.440 through an enormous pile of sources, biographies, 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.039 personal memoirs, declassified reports, and we're 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:11.919 here to boil it all down. We want to give you 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:13.720 the most vital, the most surprising insights 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:15.900 without you having to read a thousand pages. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.500 Today, we're trying to get our heads around a 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:21.699 figure who is just, I mean, the ultimate political 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:24.239 enigma, Francois Mitterrand. France's longest 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:27.489 serving president in office from 1981. all the 00:00:27.489 --> 00:00:30.210 way to 1995. But it's not just about the length 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:33.109 of time he was in power. He was genuinely revolutionary. 00:00:33.149 --> 00:00:36.710 The first left -wing politician to actually win 00:00:36.710 --> 00:00:39.270 the presidency under the Fifth Republic. He completely 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:42.070 redrew the political map. He did. But the story, 00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:44.149 and this is why we're doing this deep dive, it 00:00:44.149 --> 00:00:47.429 is not some simple linear rise to power. It's 00:00:47.429 --> 00:00:50.789 a story of profound, almost unbelievable contradictions. 00:00:50.969 --> 00:00:52.789 Right. And that is really the mission today, 00:00:52.929 --> 00:00:55.619 to get to the heart of this paradox. How does 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:57.799 a man who starts his political life as a Catholic 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.159 nationalist on the far right. Who works for the 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.840 collaborationist Vichy regime. How does that 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.120 man become a hero of the resistance and then 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:10.000 later the leader who finally unites the Socialist 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.859 Party and sweeps them into power. It's a career 00:01:12.859 --> 00:01:17.400 built on you could say strategic ambiguity. on 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:19.719 secrets yeah so we're going to trace his entire 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:22.900 political journey using all these sources from 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:24.939 his conservative youth right up to his death 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:27.000 yeah we want to understand what made him such 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.760 a uniquely very french president okay so to understand 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:32.599 the man you have to start at the beginning the 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.780 foundation you do and his foundation is jarnak 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:39.959 1916 a small town his family was uh devoutly 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:42.579 catholic very traditional very conservative his 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:45.590 father was a station master So not exactly a 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:47.750 radical upbringing. And when he gets to Paris 00:01:47.750 --> 00:01:50.489 in 1934 for his studies, his politics reflect 00:01:50.489 --> 00:01:52.670 that completely. The sources are really clear 00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:54.769 on this. Oh, absolutely. He immediately falls 00:01:54.769 --> 00:01:56.849 in with the ultra -nationalist right. For about 00:01:56.849 --> 00:01:58.769 a year, he's a member of the Voluntaires Nationaux. 00:01:58.849 --> 00:02:00.650 And we should be clear, this isn't just a conservative 00:02:00.650 --> 00:02:02.609 student club. This was the youth wing of the 00:02:02.609 --> 00:02:04.909 Croix de Fou, a far -right league. A very aggressive 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.430 political group. They were key participants in 00:02:07.430 --> 00:02:11.110 the February 1934 riots. The riots that actually 00:02:11.110 --> 00:02:12.830 brought down a left -wing government. And he 00:02:12.830 --> 00:02:14.870 wasn't just a member, was he? He was writing. 00:02:15.090 --> 00:02:16.990 He was writing articles for Le Show de Paris, 00:02:17.270 --> 00:02:20.610 a newspaper very close to those circles. So he's, 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:22.990 you know, he's fully immersed. Biographers talk 00:02:22.990 --> 00:02:25.449 about him being at extremist rallies, demonstrations 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:27.889 against what they call the invasion metech. A 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:30.729 deeply xenophobic term for immigrants. Exactly. 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:33.150 Now, later in life, Mitterrand would always try 00:02:33.150 --> 00:02:37.250 to... downplay this period. He'd say it was just, 00:02:37.310 --> 00:02:38.949 you know, the folly of youth, the environment 00:02:38.949 --> 00:02:40.969 he was in. But the evidence points to a much 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:43.629 deeper commitment. Some reports even suggest 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:45.770 he had connections through family and friends 00:02:45.770 --> 00:02:48.610 to members of La Cagu, which was an actual far 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:51.729 right terrorist organization in the 30s, setting 00:02:51.729 --> 00:02:53.810 off bombs. I mean, this is the world he was in. 00:02:53.870 --> 00:02:57.210 So what happens? How does this guy steeped in 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:59.729 ultra nationalism start to change? Is there a 00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:02.689 single moment? It seems to be less of a lightning 00:03:02.689 --> 00:03:05.819 bolt and more of a. a slow burn. And it starts 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:08.439 with a person. Our sources all point to his friendship, 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:11.280 starting around 1938, with a man named Georges 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:14.159 Dayan. Who was a Jewish socialist? Right. And 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.300 this close personal friendship seems to have 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:19.340 forced Mitterrand to actually confront the anti 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:21.580 -Semitic reactionary ideas he'd been surrounded 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:24.139 by. It's a pattern you see with him again and 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.800 again. He was a pragmatist, but he could be profoundly 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.550 shaped by the people he was close to. no matter 00:03:30.550 --> 00:03:32.969 their politics. Then, of course, comes the war, 00:03:33.110 --> 00:03:35.590 the ultimate test for everyone in that generation. 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:39.129 He's mobilized. He's a sergeant. And he's captured 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:41.949 in June 1940. He spends the next year and a half 00:03:41.949 --> 00:03:45.110 as a prisoner of war in Stalag IXA. And this 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:47.870 experience, he would later claim, was the real 00:03:47.870 --> 00:03:50.090 catalyst, the thing that finally pushed him to 00:03:50.090 --> 00:03:51.949 the left. That was his narrative. Yeah. After 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:54.169 two failed attempts, he finally escapes in December 00:03:54.169 --> 00:03:57.449 1941 and makes his way back to unoccupied France. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.500 to Vichy France. And this is where it gets incredibly 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:02.460 murky. This is the period that would haunt him 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:04.240 for the rest of his life. It is, because instead 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.599 of, say, trying to get to London to join de Gaulle, 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:09.680 he gets a job, a mid -level civil service job 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.020 in the Vichy administration. Which, as you said 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:15.879 earlier, for an escaped POW, that's highly unusual. 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:19.279 Very. First at the Legion for Combatants, then 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:23.000 at the office for reclassifying POWs. Now, his 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.740 defense was always that this was a cover, a way 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.459 to do resistance work from the inside. And there 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:30.259 is some evidence for that, right? He was working 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.319 for a man who turned out to be a British spy. 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:35.420 He was, Jean -Paul Favre de Thierry. So it's 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:37.480 plausible he was helping with disinformation. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.920 But at the exact same time, he's publishing an 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:43.420 article in a magazine called France, Revue de 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:46.500 l 'Etat Nouveau. A Vichy propaganda magazine. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.980 Pure propaganda. This is why that term, Vichy 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:53.319 -resistant, is so perfect. It was coined by the 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:55.660 historian Jean -Pierre Azema to describe these 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:58.269 figures who... You know, they accepted Pétain's 00:04:58.269 --> 00:05:00.790 authority at first, but then pivoted hard to 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:02.930 the resistance later on. They were walking this 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:05.050 incredible tightrope. And nothing illustrates 00:05:05.050 --> 00:05:07.430 that tightrope better than the Francis controversy. 00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:10.910 Oh, the Francisque. In the spring of 1943, he 00:05:10.910 --> 00:05:13.129 receives the Order of the Francisque. This was 00:05:13.129 --> 00:05:15.189 Vichy's highest honor. And getting, it wasn't 00:05:15.189 --> 00:05:17.290 just like getting a medal, was it? Not at all. 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:20.850 To receive it, you had to swear a personal oath 00:05:20.850 --> 00:05:23.689 of loyalty to Marshal Pétain. You were formally 00:05:23.689 --> 00:05:26.050 committing yourself to the Vichy ideology. So 00:05:26.050 --> 00:05:28.470 how does he explain that? If he's a secret resistant, 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:31.290 how does he justify swearing an oath to the head 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:33.829 of a collaborationist state? Well, when this 00:05:33.829 --> 00:05:36.230 all came out in the 1950s, the story got very 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:39.889 confused. At first, some said he denied it, that 00:05:39.889 --> 00:05:42.129 he was just nominated for it, but went into hiding 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:44.149 before he could get it. But then a more convenient 00:05:44.149 --> 00:05:46.230 story emerged. A much more convenient story. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:49.139 A prominent socialist resistance leader, Jean 00:05:49.139 --> 00:05:52.160 -Pierre Bloch, came forward and claimed he actually 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:55.100 ordered Mitterrand to accept the medal. As cover. 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:58.839 As the ultimate deep cover. Which, if true, turns 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:00.699 an act of collaboration into an act of heroic 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:02.839 sacrifice. But the fact that such an elaborate 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.100 defense was needed tells you everything, doesn't 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.259 it? The suspicion never really went away. It 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:10.000 never did. Biographers point to this period as 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.360 Mitterrand having, you know, a foot in each camp. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.160 Until it was clear who was going to win. And 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.579 look at his later actions. His continued friendship 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:20.420 with René Bousquet, the Vichy police chief responsible 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:23.740 for deporting Jews. His private wreath laying 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.220 on Pétain's tomb. This wasn't just a youthful 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:29.560 mistake. It was a lifelong ambiguity. An ambiguity 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.259 that shaped his view of France's official history, 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:36.120 even as president. In 1994, he was still insisting 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.360 that the French Republic bore no responsibility 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.240 for the deportation of the Jews. He was. He argued 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:43.660 it was the work of Vichy France, which he claimed 00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:46.040 was his illegitimate entity, separate from the 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:47.660 real France. He said, I do not believe France 00:06:47.660 --> 00:06:49.759 is responsible. A stance that his successors 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:52.819 completely rejected. Forcefully. Jacques Chirac, 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.420 in 95, gave that landmark speech acknowledging 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:58.160 France's role, the French police who obeyed. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:01.040 And Macron went even further, saying it was indeed 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.779 France that organized it. So Mitterrand's attempt 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:06.459 to sanitize that history was systematically dismantled 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:10.079 after he left office. OK, but by late 1943, that 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.360 ambiguity ends. He is, without question, fully 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.980 in the resistance. He is. He builds his own network, 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:19.279 the RNPG, focused on gathering intelligence from 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:23.899 POWs. This was real dangerous work. But even 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:26.439 within the resistance, there was politics. His 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:28.899 network was initially aligned with General Giroux, 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:31.980 not de Gaulle. Right. And that put him on a collision 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.480 course with the leader of the Free French from 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.779 day one. De Gaulle had his own guy. He wanted 00:07:37.779 --> 00:07:40.959 to run the POW networks. Mitterrand, in a move 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.860 that would define his career, refused to just 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:46.220 step aside and merge his group. He wanted to 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:48.000 be in charge. Theo always wanted to be in charge. 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:50.519 Always. He eventually has to flee to London on 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.040 a Lysander plane, using the code name Moreland, 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:56.540 and then to Algiers. The merger happens, but 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:58.519 Mitterrand ends up as the leader. And what about 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.480 that first meeting with de Gaulle? Famously frosty. 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.680 De Gaulle was deeply suspicious of this independent 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.439 operator. The best story is from after the liberation. 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.800 Mitterrand, being Mitterrand, just sort of occupies 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:11.779 a vacant government ministry. De Gaulle hears 00:08:11.779 --> 00:08:15.000 about it and supposedly mutters, you again. and 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.100 has him kicked out within two weeks. He saw him 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:19.519 as a rival from the very beginning. Absolutely, 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.540 a political animal. But before we leave the war, 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.019 we have to mention his role at the very end, 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.379 the liberation of the camps. Yes, in April 45, 00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:30.660 he's with the Allied forces at the liberation 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:34.519 of Dachau. And he sees the absolute horror. But 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.139 there's this deeply personal story in our sources. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:40.159 His friend, Robert Antelme, from his resistance 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.139 network, is there. He's dying of typhus. And 00:08:43.139 --> 00:08:45.019 under quarantine, they weren't letting anyone 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:47.940 out. Right. And Mitterrand... basically organizes 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:50.779 his escape, smuggles him out, risks everything 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:52.580 to get him back to France for medical treatment. 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:55.279 It's the perfect illustration of the man, a cynical 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.120 political operator who was also capable of incredible 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.980 acts of personal loyalty and courage. So after 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:04.580 the war, Mitterrand's rise is just meteoric. 00:09:04.659 --> 00:09:06.639 It's stunningly fast. He gets himself elected 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.620 as a deputy in 1946 under a centrist banner, 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.559 the RGR. And then in the chaotic Fourth Republic, 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.440 he just collects cabinet posts. Eleven different 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.899 ministerial portfolios. It's an incredible number. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.779 It speaks to his adaptability and the instability 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:22.980 of the government. But the most significant and 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:25.620 I think most damaging roles were tied to the 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.179 Algerian War. He's interior minister in 1954, 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.620 right at the start of the conflict. And that's 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:33.019 when he makes that famous hardline statement. 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:37.080 Algeria is France. No question of independence. 00:09:37.769 --> 00:09:39.889 But the real controversy comes when he's justice 00:09:39.889 --> 00:09:43.710 minister, from 56 to 57. Yes, under the socialist 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:46.710 Prime Minister Guy Mollet. During his time as 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:49.350 justice minister, the sources confirmed he approved 00:09:49.350 --> 00:09:52.990 the execution of 45 Algerian nationalists. He 00:09:52.990 --> 00:09:55.289 often recommended rejecting their requests for 00:09:55.289 --> 00:09:59.039 clemency. Forty five executions for a man who 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:00.980 would later become famous for abolishing the 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:03.320 death penalty. That is a staggering contradiction. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.399 It is. And critics like the writer Anthony Daniels 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:09.220 were brutal about this. They basically said Mitterrand 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:11.240 was for the death penalty when it was politically 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.799 popular in the 50s and against it when public 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.480 opinion shifted by the 80s. It points to a kind 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.059 of ruthless opportunism. His principles often 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:21.240 seem secondary to whatever was necessary for 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.950 power. All right. So then comes 1958. The Fourth 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:26.509 Republic collapses and General de Gaulle returns 00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:29.090 to power. This is a huge setback for Mitterrand. 00:10:29.230 --> 00:10:32.330 A massive one. He is one of the very few big 00:10:32.330 --> 00:10:35.509 names to oppose de Gaulle's return. He campaigns 00:10:35.509 --> 00:10:37.690 against the new constitution for the Fifth Republic 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:41.070 and he loses his seat. This is the start of his 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:44.330 so -called traversée du désert, his time in the 00:10:44.330 --> 00:10:46.649 political wilderness. But he uses that time, 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:49.639 doesn't he? He reinvents himself. He does. He 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:51.720 becomes the leading intellectual opponent of 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:55.419 Gaullism. In 1964, he writes this incredibly 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:58.639 influential book, Le Coup d 'Etat, The Permanent 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.059 Coup. Which is just a brilliant takedown of the 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:04.019 Fifth Republic's constitution. It is. He argues 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:05.960 that de Gaulle has concentrated far too much 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:08.519 power in the presidency, that he's weak in parliament. 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.179 He basically frames the entire system as fundamentally 00:11:11.179 --> 00:11:13.679 undemocratic, and it makes him the ideological 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.320 leader of the opposition. But during this period, 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.039 there's also an incident that almost destroys 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:22.220 him. The observatory affair. Ah, yes. 1959. Mitterrand 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:24.419 claims he's the target of an assassination attempt. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.840 Says he had to dive behind a hedge to escape 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:29.480 machine gun fire. It gets huge media coverage. 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:31.919 But pretty quickly, people start to suspect he 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.200 staged the whole thing. They do. The story seems 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:36.620 a bit too convenient, a bit too dramatic. It 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:39.940 casts this lasting shadow over his reputation. 00:11:40.670 --> 00:11:43.210 The whiff of cynicism of a man desperate for 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:45.529 publicity, it really stuck to him for a while. 00:11:45.649 --> 00:11:48.350 So how does he survive that politically? A scandal 00:11:48.350 --> 00:11:50.730 like that would end most careers. He was just 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:53.690 incredibly resilient. But the key moment comes 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:57.070 in 1965 when he runs for president against de 00:11:57.070 --> 00:12:00.269 Gaulle. De Gaulle's advisors tell him, you know, 00:12:00.309 --> 00:12:02.629 use the observatory affair, finish him. And de 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:05.639 Gaulle refuses. He refuses. He says. Vanously, 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:08.159 it would be wrong to demean the office of the 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.679 presidency since one day he, Mitterrand, may 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:14.120 have the job. It's an incredible moment of foresight. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:16.879 De Gaulle recognized Mitterrand's stature, even 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:19.580 with all the flaws. So that 1965 election, even 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:21.799 though he loses, it really establishes him as 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:24.100 the leader of the left, right? It does. He manages 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:26.379 to unite a big chunk of the non -communist left 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:29.379 and, crucially, forces De Gaulle into a second 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:32.220 round runoff, which nobody expected. He proved 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.669 that a unified left could actually compete. But 00:12:34.669 --> 00:12:37.049 the real masterstroke, the big power play, comes 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:40.169 a few years later, the 1971 Epinay Congress. 00:12:40.490 --> 00:12:44.009 This is the pivotal moment. Mitterrand, who isn't 00:12:44.009 --> 00:12:45.750 even a lifelong member of the Socialist Party, 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.769 basically executes a brilliant political takeover. 00:12:48.830 --> 00:12:51.509 A coup. A coup. He builds an alliance with the 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:54.009 younger, more radical factions inside the party 00:12:54.009 --> 00:12:58.710 and ousts the old guard leader, Guy Mollet. His 00:12:58.710 --> 00:13:01.389 goal was to transform the old, weak Socialist 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:04.309 Party into a disciplined machine that could take 00:13:04.309 --> 00:13:06.789 on the Gaullist state. And he gives that famous 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:09.850 speech defining the new party. He does. He says, 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.570 whoever does not accept the break with the established 00:13:12.570 --> 00:13:15.289 order, with capitalist society, cannot be an 00:13:15.289 --> 00:13:17.730 adherent of the Socialist Party. A very clear, 00:13:17.830 --> 00:13:20.980 very radical statement. It was a signal. And 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:23.120 he immediately puts it into practice by forging 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.919 an alliance with the French Communist Party, 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:27.360 the PCF. They create the common program. The 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:29.320 union of the left. And that's what makes him 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:32.840 a real contender. That's the key. In 1974, running 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:35.019 on that platform, he almost wins. He gets 49 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.100 .19 % of the vote against Giscard this time. 00:13:38.299 --> 00:13:40.639 Giscard famously calls him a man of the past 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.740 in their debate. He did. But Mitterrand had laid 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:46.110 all the groundwork. He'd united the socialists 00:13:46.110 --> 00:13:48.529 and communists. And in doing so, he'd started 00:13:48.529 --> 00:13:50.649 the process of making the socialists the dominant 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:53.769 force and beginning the long, slow decline of 00:13:53.769 --> 00:13:55.850 the Communist Party. So by the time we get to 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:59.850 1981, his third attempt, he's perfected the image, 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:04.029 the quiet force. Exactly. And he wins. He beats 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:06.870 Giscard with nearly 52 percent of the vote. It 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:09.570 was a political earthquake. After 23 years of 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:12.049 the right in power, the left had finally won. 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.480 Mitterrand hadn't just won an election. He had 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.940 completely remade the French left. So Mitterrand 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:19.320 comes to power in 81 and the atmosphere on the 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:22.960 left is just. It's electric. Yeah. He appoints 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.820 Pierre Marois as prime minister, gets a huge 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.759 majority in parliament, and even puts four communists 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.019 in his cabinet, which was a huge deal. And they 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:32.259 just hit the ground running with this incredibly 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:34.860 ambitious, radical program. Oh, immediately. 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:37.919 The first two years are this full -throated Keynesian 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:39.820 experiment. They're trying to boost the economy 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:42.460 with massive public spending, totally going against 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:44.240 the grain of what Thatcher and Reagan were doing 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.129 elsewhere. Let's run through some of the changes 00:14:46.129 --> 00:14:49.509 because the pace is just staggering. It is. Economically, 00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:52.350 they nationalize huge swaths of the economy. 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:56.029 Five major industrial groups, all the big private 00:14:56.029 --> 00:14:58.149 banks, insurance companies. And on the social 00:14:58.149 --> 00:15:01.129 front? A 10 % hike in the minimum wage right 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:04.769 away. They bring in the 39 -hour work week, five 00:15:04.769 --> 00:15:07.629 weeks of paid holiday, and they create the solidarity 00:15:07.629 --> 00:15:11.200 tax on wealth aimed squarely at the rich. And 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:14.259 legally, the changes were just as profound. Abolishing 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.679 the death penalty. That was a huge symbolic victory. 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.080 They got rid of special state security courts, 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:22.200 a massive regularization of undocumented immigrants. 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:24.320 And just pumping money into the welfare state. 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:27.159 Huge amounts. Pensions went up. Social benefits 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.179 increased. They brought in retirement at age 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:30.879 60. I mean, it was a complete transformation 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.799 of the social and economic landscape. It sounds 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:37.120 amazing, but also completely unsustainable. How 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.659 long could that possibly last? Not long. Two 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:43.700 years. By March of 1983, it all comes to a screeching 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:46.500 halt. Mitterrand is forced into what the French 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:50.100 call the tonneau de la rigueur, the turn to austerity. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.659 So what went wrong? The stimulus just overheated 00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:55.399 the economy. Inflation was soaring, the trade 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:57.840 deficit was massive, and they had to devalue 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.059 the franc three times. France was bleeding money 00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:03.360 and becoming isolated. He had to choose between 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.000 his socialist program and France's place in Europe. 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:08.840 That's exactly it. To stay in the European monetary 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.659 system, which he saw as vital, he had to slam 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:14.139 on the brakes. He abandoned the radical spending 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.700 and pivoted to fighting inflation and fiscal 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:18.820 restraint. That must have been a crushing blow 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:21.179 for his supporters, a total betrayal for some. 00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:24.159 How did he survive it politically? It was classic 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.539 Mitterrand. He was a pragmatist. He framed it 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:28.899 not as an ideological defeat, but as a necessary 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:32.320 choice for Europe. And this is key. He protected 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.600 the social gains. The 39 -hour week, the five 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.279 weeks of holiday, retirement at 60, those stayed. 00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:41.120 He kept the social architecture, even as he changed 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.340 the economic engine. Okay, and right after this 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:45.559 U -turn, one of the biggest scandals of his presidency 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.519 erupts. The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. Yes, 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.740 1985. The Greenpeace ship is in Auckland, New 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.019 Zealand, getting ready to protest French nuclear 00:16:54.019 --> 00:16:57.139 tests. And Mitterrand authorizes French intelligence, 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:01.299 the DGSE, to... Well, to sink it. State -sponsored 00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:03.519 terrorism is what it was. They plant two mines 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.539 on the hull. The ship sinks, and a photographer, 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:08.880 Fernando Pereira, is killed. The New Zealand 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:12.000 government was, understandably, furious. And 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.640 the mid -Iran government's first response was 00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:15.799 to deny everything. But then the Kiwis arrest 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:19.119 two DGSE agents, and the whole story unravels. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.880 The defense minister has to resign. France pays 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:24.509 millions in compensation. And it was later confirmed 00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:26.650 that Mitterrand himself gave the green light. 00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:29.049 Yes. The head of the DGSE at the time confirmed 00:17:29.049 --> 00:17:31.769 it years later. Mitterrand personally authorized 00:17:31.769 --> 00:17:34.109 the operation. The responsibility goes right 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:37.369 to the top. This all leads to the 1986 legislative 00:17:37.369 --> 00:17:40.349 elections, which the right wins. And Mitterrand 00:17:40.349 --> 00:17:42.430 has to appoint his arch rival Jacques Chirac 00:17:42.430 --> 00:17:45.609 as prime minister. The first cohabitation. An 00:17:45.609 --> 00:17:48.250 unprecedented situation. And Mitterrand plays 00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:50.710 it like a chess master. He keeps control of foreign 00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:53.710 policy and defense, his reserve domain. And uses 00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:56.569 his presidential powers to just block Chirac 00:17:56.569 --> 00:17:59.650 at every turn on domestic policy. Systematically. 00:17:59.990 --> 00:18:02.769 Chirac wants to pass reforms by decree to speed 00:18:02.769 --> 00:18:06.279 things up. Mitterrand refuses to sign them. He 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:08.539 forces Chirac to go through the slow parliamentary 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.819 process, which gives the opposition time to organize. 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:15.359 He even reportedly secretly encouraged the student 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.579 protests against Chirac's university reforms. 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.180 He did. He positioned himself as the wise protector 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.759 of the nation against Chirac's divisive policies. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:27.559 And it worked. By the 1988 presidential election, 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:30.259 Mitterrand's popularity was high again, and he 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:32.980 easily won reelection against a bruised and battered 00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:35.660 Chirac. So his second term, he starts off strong. 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.819 He does. And there's a real focus on consolidating 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:41.619 the social safety net. The biggest achievement 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:44.079 here is the creation of the RMI, the minimum 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:46.500 income for the poorest citizens. It's a landmark 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:48.700 piece of welfare legislation. He also brings 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:50.599 back some of the policies Chirac had gotten rid 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:52.720 of. Right. The solidarity tax on wealth comes 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.720 back immediately, and he passes the Gaysot Act 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:58.599 in 1990, which makes Holocaust denial a crime. 00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:01.259 And this is also the period of his grand architectural 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.400 projects, the Grands Projects. Yes, he wanted 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.640 to leave a physical mark on Paris and on France. 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.299 The Louvre Pyramid is the most famous one, but 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:13.940 also the Grand Arche de la Défense, the Bastille 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.980 Opera, the new National Library. These were more 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:18.819 than just buildings, weren't they? They were 00:19:18.819 --> 00:19:21.450 statements. about French culture, about presidential 00:19:21.450 --> 00:19:24.690 power. He quadrupled the National Museum budget. 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:27.509 He saw the state as the great patron of the arts. 00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:30.450 And he used that power to reshape the capital 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:33.269 in his image. But the politics of his second 00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:36.809 term got messy. Very messy. He goes through a 00:19:36.809 --> 00:19:39.230 series of prime ministers. Edith Cresson, the 00:19:39.230 --> 00:19:41.450 first woman to hold the job, doesn't last long. 00:19:41.690 --> 00:19:44.170 Then Pierre Bergavoy, whose government suffers 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:46.549 a catastrophic defeat in the 93 election. The 00:19:46.549 --> 00:19:49.019 left just gets wiped out. Annihilated. which 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:51.259 leads to the second cohabitation, this time with 00:19:51.259 --> 00:19:53.220 Edward Balladur as prime minister. But this one 00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:54.619 was different from the first one with Chirac. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.720 Much less confrontational. By this point, Midran's 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.519 health was failing. He was also deeply affected 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:02.900 by Bera Gavoy's suicide shortly after the election 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.839 loss. So he mostly stuck to foreign affairs and 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.660 let Balladur run the country until his term ended 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:13.119 in 1995. So, after 14 years, what's the verdict 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.460 on his domestic policy? The radical dream died 00:20:16.460 --> 00:20:19.460 in 83. What was left? What was left, and this 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:22.000 is what the sources emphasize, was a strong welfare 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.579 base underpinned by a strong state. He fundamentally 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:27.779 reoriented the French economy towards Europe, 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:30.400 but he preserved that social safety net. And 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.400 what about inequality? It's a mixed picture. 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:36.059 But some major reports from the time showed that 00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:39.200 France, unlike the U .S. or the U .K., had actually 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.880 managed to contain the rise in income inequality 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.180 during that period. He balanced the books, but 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.279 he didn't dismantle the welfare state to do it. 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.980 OK, let's turn to foreign policy, because this 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:50.700 is where you really see Mitterrand's strategic 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:53.859 mind at work, especially on Europe. Absolutely. 00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:56.140 His relationship with the German chancellor, 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:58.779 Helmut Kohl, was the central pillar of his foreign 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.380 policy. They built an incredibly strong Franco 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:03.640 -German partnership. And the biggest test of 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.019 that partnership came when the Berlin Wall fell. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.859 German reunification. Mitterrand was nervous 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:11.299 about that, wasn't he? Deeply nervous. He was 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:13.200 worried a bigger, more powerful Germany would 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:16.220 dominate Europe and sideline France. So he makes 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:19.279 a deal, a huge strategic bargain. He does. He 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:22.319 tells Kohl essentially, I will support German 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:25.299 reunification, but there is a price. And that 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:28.539 price was Germany giving up its most powerful 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:31.680 symbol of economic strength, the Deutsche Mark. 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:34.930 In exchange for a single European currency. The 00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:37.509 euro. Exactly. He used the leverage he had at 00:21:37.509 --> 00:21:40.490 that one specific moment to lock Germany into 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:43.349 a much deeper European integration. It was a 00:21:43.349 --> 00:21:47.049 brilliant, incredibly high stakes move. And it's 00:21:47.049 --> 00:21:48.930 what ultimately paved the way for the Maastricht 00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:51.130 Treaty, which created the modern European Union. 00:21:51.250 --> 00:21:54.150 Beyond Europe, he also tried to change France's 00:21:54.150 --> 00:21:56.309 relationship with its former colonies in Africa. 00:21:56.410 --> 00:21:59.980 The Le Bal speech in 1990. Right. This was supposed 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:02.039 to be a turning point. He stood up and said that 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:03.960 from now on, French aid would be linked to democratic 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.460 progress, free elections, multi -party systems. 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:08.519 It sounds good on paper. Did it work in practice? 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:11.539 It was. Complicated. A lot of African leaders 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:13.440 weren't happy about it. And it was a massive 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.380 contradiction at the heart of his Africa policy, 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.220 personified by his own son. You're talking about 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:21.720 Rwanda. I am. Throughout the early 90s, Mitterrand's 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.059 government was providing huge amounts of military 00:22:24.059 --> 00:22:26.819 and financial support to a Hutu -led government 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:29.480 of Rwanda. Support that was often channeled through 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:32.259 a special Africa cell at the Laze Palace run 00:22:32.259 --> 00:22:35.740 by his son, Jean -Christophe. That's right. France 00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:38.200 helped train and arm the Rwandan army, which 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:41.180 expanded massively with French help. And after 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:44.440 the 1994 genocide, this support came under intense 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:47.380 scrutiny. It remains one of the darkest chapters 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:49.759 of his foreign policy legacy. And that brings 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.339 us to the secrets. The hidden life that Mitterrand 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:55.220 protected with all the power of the state, starting 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:57.720 with his health. He hid his prostate cancer for 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.240 almost the entire time he was president, 14 years. 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:02.980 He had his doctor, Claude Gubler, issue fake 00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:04.960 health reports to the public. It's an incredible 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:07.460 deception, but it pales in comparison to the 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:10.700 illegal wiretapping. It does. Between 1982 and 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:14.119 1986, Mitterrand set up a special anti -terrorist 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.220 cell inside the Elysee Palace. But this cell 00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:19.900 operated completely outside the law. No judicial 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.420 oversight. Nothing. And they tapped thousands 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:25.940 of phone calls. Over 3 ,000 conversations involving 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:29.200 about 150 people. And while the official reason 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.960 was anti -terrorism, the real reason, as a court 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.980 later found, was to protect Mitterrand's secrets. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:38.500 Which were what exactly? Two main things. First, 00:23:38.660 --> 00:23:41.500 anything related to his murky past in Vichy. 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:44.839 And second, the existence of his illegitimate 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:48.079 daughter, Mazarin Pinjo. which he had kept hidden 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:50.700 from the public for years. So he was using the 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:53.640 security services as his own private protection 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:56.299 squad. Precisely. They were tapping journalists 00:23:56.299 --> 00:23:58.259 who were digging into the Rainbow Warrior affair, 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:00.980 but also writers and others who he feared might 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:03.420 reveal the existence of Mazarin. It was a massive 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:05.240 abuse of power. And did he get away with it? 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:08.319 Not entirely. It took decades. But in 2005, a 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.519 court finally ruled on the case. Several members 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:12.720 of the unit were convicted, and the court named 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:14.740 Mitterrand as the inspirator and essentially 00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:16.660 the controller of the whole illegal operation. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.299 And we should also briefly mention the Irba scandal. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.839 Yes, a big corruption scandal involving illegal 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.900 financing for the Socialist Party. And just as 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:27.740 the investigation was getting close to the top, 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:30.460 what does Mitterrand do? He declares a political 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:32.660 amnesty, effectively shutting the whole thing 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:35.480 down. Another example of him placing himself 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:37.880 and his party above the law. Mitterrand finally 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:41.500 leaves office in 1995. He dies not long after, 00:24:41.579 --> 00:24:44.339 in January 1996, from the cancer he'd hidden 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:47.259 for so long. And even in his final days, he was 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:49.619 a figure of defiance and contradiction. That 00:24:49.619 --> 00:24:52.319 famous last meal. The Ordholden Buntings. These 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.980 tiny protected songbirds. It's illegal to hunt 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:57.380 them, illegal to eat them, and for his last big 00:24:57.380 --> 00:24:59.680 meal, he has them served to his closest friends 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:02.519 and family. A final act of defiance against convention. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:06.119 A final, symbolic breaking of the law. It's so 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:08.339 perfectly Mitterrand. The great lawmaker, the 00:25:08.339 --> 00:25:10.559 statesman, choosing to end his life with this 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:13.259 very private, very deliberate transgression. 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:15.839 But his funeral was a huge state affair, a national 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:18.839 day of mourning. It was. Dozens of heads of state 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.619 came, representatives from over 170 countries. 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:23.880 It showed the stature he had achieved on the 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.220 world stage. So when you look back, how do you 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.160 balance the ledger on Mitterrand? It's so difficult. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:32.730 The achievements are monumental. abolishing the 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:35.329 death penalty, anchoring France and Europe, building 00:25:35.329 --> 00:25:37.930 the modern welfare state, consolidating the Socialist 00:25:37.930 --> 00:25:40.890 Party. That deal over German reunification and 00:25:40.890 --> 00:25:43.369 the euro, that alone shaped the continent for 00:25:43.369 --> 00:25:45.890 decades. It did. But then you have the dark side, 00:25:46.089 --> 00:25:49.349 the Vichy past, the executions during the Algerian 00:25:49.349 --> 00:25:52.779 War. the rainbow warrior, the illegal wiretaps. 00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.019 We've seen that even after the austerity turn, 00:25:55.140 --> 00:25:58.200 he managed to preserve that core idea of a strong 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:00.859 French state with a robust social safety net. 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:03.059 He brought the left to power and kept it there. 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:05.339 He did. So that leaves us with a final question, 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:07.440 really. We've seen this man drag France into 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:10.240 a progressive modern era. But to protect himself, 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:13.579 to protect his past, he used secret police tactics. 00:26:13.779 --> 00:26:16.460 He put himself above the law. So when we evaluate 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:18.539 a leader like this, how do we weigh the good 00:26:18.539 --> 00:26:21.220 at the historic policy achievements against the 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:24.599 profound ethical and legal failures? And that's 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:26.240 the provocative thought we want to leave you 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.759 with. Can profound democratic progress ever truly 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.359 excuse a leader's decision to disregard the rule 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.259 of law when it gets in the way of their own self 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:36.759 -preservation? The life of Francois Mitterrand 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:38.700 suggests that that might be the most unsettling 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:39.859 political question of all.