Editing Jacques Chirac (section)

==== Retirement ====
In early September 2005, Chirac suffered an event that his doctors described as a "vascular incident". It was officially reported as a "[[minor stroke]]"<ref>{{cite news |last=Willsher |first=Kim |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1497612/Minor-stroke-puts-Chirac-in-hospital-but-he-hangs-on-to-reins-of-government.html |title=Minor stroke puts Chirac in hospital but he hangs on to reins of government |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=4 September 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204130336/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1497612/Minor-stroke-puts-Chirac-in-hospital-but-he-hangs-on-to-reins-of-government.html |archive-date=4 December 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> or a mild stroke (also known as a [[transient ischemic attack]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-10722229.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104170739/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-10722229.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2012 |title=Rivals in open warfare after Chirac's stroke raises stakes in succession fight battle |work=The Belfast Telegraph  |date=6 September 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref> He recovered and returned to his duties soon afterward.

In a pre-recorded television broadcast aired on 11 March 2007, he announced, in a widely predicted move, that he would not choose to seek a third term as president. (In 2000 the constitution was amended to reduce the length of the presidential term to five years, so his second term was shorter than his first.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/frances-new-five-year-presidential-term/ |title=France's New Five-Year Presidential Term |first=Olivier |last=Duhamel |date=30 November 2001 |access-date=19 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420143222/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/frances-new-five-year-presidential-term/ |archive-date=20 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> "My whole life has been committed to serving France, and serving peace", Chirac said, adding that he would find new ways to serve France after leaving office. He did not explain the reasons for his decision.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/12/europe/EU-POL-France-Chiracs-Future.php France's Chirac says he will not run for re-election] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320233225/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/12/europe/EU-POL-France-Chiracs-Future.php |date=20 March 2007 }} Associated Press, 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2007</ref> He did not, during the broadcast, endorse any of the candidates running for election, but did devote several minutes of his talk to a plea against extremist politics that was considered a thinly disguised invocation to voters not to vote for [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] and a recommendation to [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] not to orient his campaign so as to include themes traditionally associated with Le Pen.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101091.html Chirac Leaving Stage Admired and Scorned] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107221800/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101091.html |date=7 November 2017 }} by John Leicester, Associated Press, 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2007.</ref>