Valéry Giscard dEstaing
Giscard dEstaing in 1975
20thPresident of France
In office 27 May 1974– 21 May 1981
Prime Minister	Jacques Chirac Raymond Barre
Preceded by	Georges Pompidou
Succeeded by	François Mitterrand
President of the Regional CouncilofAuvergne
In office 21 March 1986– 2 April 2004
Preceded by	Maurice Pourchon
Succeeded by	Pierre-Joël Bonté
Minister of the Economy and Finance
In office 20 June 1969– 27 May 1974
Prime Minister	Jacques Chaban-Delmas Pierre Messmer
Preceded by	François-Xavier Ortoli
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Fourcade
In office 18 January 1962– 8 January 1966
Prime Minister	Michel Debré Georges Pompidou
Preceded by	Wilfrid Baumgartner
Succeeded by	Michel Debré
MayorofChamalières
In office 15 September 1967– 19 May 1974
Preceded by	Pierre Chatrousse
Succeeded by	Claude Wolff
Additional positions
(see§Offices and distinctions)
Personal details
Born	Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard dEstaing 2 February 1926 Koblenz,French-occupied Germany
Died	2 December 2020(aged94) Authon, Loir-et-Cher, France
Resting place	Authon Cemetery, Authon[1]
Political party	CNIP(1956–1962) FNRI(1966–1977) PR(1977–1995) UDF(1978–2002) PPDF(1995–1997) DL(1997–1998) UMP(2002–2004)
Spouse	Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes ​ ​ (m.1952)​
Children	4, includingHenriandLouis
Alma mater	École Polytechnique ENA
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Free France
Branch/service	Free French Forces
Yearsof service	1944–1945
Rank	Brigadier-chef [fr]
Battles/wars	World War II Liberation of Paris
Awards	Croix de Guerre 1939–1945

Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard dEstaing(UK:/ˌʒiːskɑːrdɛˈstæ̃/ZHIH-skar dess-TÃ(N),^{[2]US:/ʒɪˌskɑːr-/zhih-SKAR-;[3][4]French:[valeʁiʁənemaʁiʒɔʁʒʒiskaʁdɛstɛ̃]ⓘ; 2 February 1926– 2 December 2020), also known asGiscardorVGE, was a French politician who served asPresident of Francefrom 1974 to 1981.[5]}

After serving asMinister of Financeunder prime ministersJacques Chaban-DelmasandPierre Messmer, Giscard dEstaing won thepresidential election of 1974with 50.8% of the vote againstFrançois Mitterrandof theSocialist Party. His tenure was marked by a more liberal attitude on social issues—such as divorce, contraception and abortion—and by attempts to modernise the country and the office of the presidency, notably overseeing such far-reaching infrastructure projects as theTGVand the turn towards reliance onnuclear poweras Frances main energy source. Giscard dEstaing launched theGrande Arche,Musée dOrsay,Arab World InstituteandCité des Sciences et de lIndustrieprojects in the Paris region, later included in theGrands Projets of François Mitterrand. He promoted liberalisation of trade; however, his popularity suffered from the economic downturn that followed the1973 energy crisis, marking the end of the "Trente Glorieuses" (the "Thirty Glorious Years" of prosperity after 1945). He imposed austerity budgets, and allowed unemployment to rise in order to avoid deficits. Giscard dEstaing in the centre faced political opposition from both sides of the spectrum: from the newly unified left under Mitterrand and a risingJacques Chirac, who resurrectedGaullismon a right-wing opposition line. In 1981, despite a high approval rating, he wasdefeated in a runoff against Mitterrand, with 48.2% of the vote.

As president, Giscard dEstaing promoted cooperation among the European nations, especially in tandem with West Germany. As a former president, he was a member of theConstitutional Council. He also served aspresident of the Regional CouncilofAuvergnefrom 1986 to 2004. Involved with the process ofEuropean integration, he notably presided over theConvention on the Future of Europethat drafted the ill-fatedTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. In 2003, he was elected to theAcadémie Française, taking the seat that his friend and former president of SenegalLéopold Sédar Senghorhad held. He died at the age of 94, and is the longest-lived French president in history.