France was shaken on Thursday, September 26, when the death of former French President Jacques Chirac was announced by his family. Emmanuel Macron, the present incumbent paid tribute in a televised address, calling Chirac “a statesman that we loved as much as he loved us… Jacques Chirac was a great Frenchman.”
HSH Prince Albert also praised Jacques Chirac, calling him “A man of great humanity.”
Chirac’s son-in-law Frederic Salat-Baroux said that the former President died “peacefully, among his loved ones”.
Chirac was more popular after he left office in 2007 than he had been as President, and he is remembered for his charm and his personal warmth. As a statesman he is remembered for standing up to the Americans and the British over their invasion of Iraq.
He was not without his flaws, and before he entered national politics he was embroiled in a corruption scandal in Paris, where he had served as mayor.
In his demise his errors have been forgiven, and in the words of some observers, a part of France has passed with him.
