Editing Jacques Chirac (section)

== Early political career ==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2017}}

=== The "Bulldozer": 1962–1971 ===
In April 1962, Chirac was appointed head of the personal staff of Prime Minister [[Georges Pompidou]]. This appointment launched Chirac's political career. Pompidou considered Chirac his [[mentorship|protégé]], and referred to him as "my bulldozer" for his skill at getting things done. The nickname {{lang|fr|Le Bulldozer}} caught on in French political circles, where it also referred to his abrasive manner. As late as the 1988 [[1988 French presidential election|presidential election]], Chirac maintained this reputation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/magazine/au-revoir-to-ideology.html?pagewanted=all|title=Au revoir to ideology|last=Markham|first=James M.|date=28 February 1988|work=[[The New York Times]]|quote=Prime Minister Chirac, whose abrasive manner once earned him the nickname "the Bulldozer,"...|access-date=14 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194902/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/magazine/au-revoir-to-ideology.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

At Pompidou's suggestion, Chirac ran as a [[Gaullist]] for a seat in the [[French National Assembly|National Assembly]] in 1967.<ref name=":0" /> He was elected deputy for his home [[Corrèze]] {{lang|fr|département}}, a stronghold of the left. This surprising victory in the context of a Gaullist ebb permitted him to enter the government as [[Minister of Social Affairs (France)|Minister of Social Affairs]]. Although Chirac was well-situated in de Gaulle's entourage, being related by marriage to the general's sole companion at the time of the [[Appeal of 18 June]] 1940, he was more of a "Pompidolian" than a "Gaullist". When student and worker unrest rocked France in [[May 1968 in France|May 1968]], Chirac played a central role in negotiating a truce.<ref name=":0" /> Subsequently, as state secretary of economy (1968–1971), he worked closely with [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]], who headed the ministry of economy and finance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-03 |title=Valéry Giscard d'Estaing obituary |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/03/valery-giscard-destaing-obituary |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

=== Cabinet minister: 1971–1974 ===
After some months in the ministry for Relations with Parliament, Chirac's first high-level post came in 1972 when he became [[Minister of Agriculture (France)|Minister of Agriculture]] and Rural Development under Pompidou, who had been elected president in 1969, after de Gaulle retired. Chirac quickly earned a reputation as a champion of French farmers' interests, and first attracted international attention when he assailed U.S., [[West German]], and [[European Commission]] agricultural policies which conflicted with French interests.

On 27 February 1974, after the resignation of [[Raymond Marcellin]], Chirac was appointed [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Minister of the Interior]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Giscard appoints Chirac, Gaullist, France's Premier; Interior Minister, 41, Picked by President for Support During the Campaign Worked Under Giscard Largest in Assembly | work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/05/28/79332094.html?pageNumber=9 |access-date=2022-05-19 |language=en}}</ref> On 21 March 1974, he cancelled the [[SAFARI]] project due to privacy concerns after its existence was revealed by {{lang|fr|[[Le Monde]]}}.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Manache |first=Jean-Marc |date=2010-12-23 |title=Safari et la (nouvelle) chasse aux Français |language=French |work=[[Le Monde]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/bugbrother/2010/12/23/safari-et-la-nouvelle-chasse-aux-francais/ |access-date=2022-05-19}}</ref> From March 1974, he was entrusted by President Pompidou with preparations for the presidential election then scheduled for 1976. These elections were moved forward because of Pompidou's sudden death on 2 April 1974.

Chirac vainly attempted to rally Gaullists behind Prime Minister [[Pierre Messmer]]. [[Jacques Chaban-Delmas]] announced his candidacy in spite of the disapproval of the "Pompidolians". Chirac and others published the ''call of the 43'' in favour of Giscard d'Estaing, the leader of the non-Gaullist part of the parliamentary majority. Giscard d'Estaing was elected as Pompidou's successor after France's most competitive election campaign in years. In return, the new president chose Chirac to lead the cabinet.

=== Prime Minister under Giscard: 1974–1976 ===
[[File:1975 Ceausescu J. Chirac Neptun.jpg|thumb|right|Chirac with Romanian president [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] during a visit to [[Neptun, Romania|Neptun]], 1975]]
When [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] became president, he nominated Chirac as [[Prime Minister of France|prime minister]] on 27 May 1974, to reconcile the "Giscardian" and "non-Giscardian" factions of the parliamentary majority. At the age of 41, Chirac stood out as the very model of the {{lang|fr|jeunes loups}} ('young wolves') of French politics, but he was faced with the hostility of the "Barons of Gaullism" who considered him a traitor for his role during the previous presidential campaign. In December 1974, he took the lead of the [[Union of Democrats for the Republic]] (UDR) against the will of its more senior personalities.

As prime minister, Chirac quickly set about persuading the Gaullists that, despite the social reforms proposed by President Giscard, the basic tenets of Gaullism, such as national and European independence, would be retained. Chirac was advised by Pierre Juillet and [[Marie-France Garaud]], two former advisers of Pompidou. These two organised the campaign against Chaban-Delmas in 1974. They advocated a clash with Giscard d'Estaing because they thought his policy bewildered the conservative electorate.<ref name="palier1">{{cite web|last=Palier|first=Bruno|title=France more liberalised than social democratized?|url=http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/conferences/nordic/papers/France.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703034255/http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/conferences/nordic/papers/France.pdf|archive-date=3 July 2010|publisher=Chercheur CNRS au CEVIPOF}}</ref>

Citing Giscard's unwillingness to give him authority, Chirac resigned as prime minister in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meisler |first=Stanley |date=1986-03-21 |title=Chirac Named French Premier; Cabinet Picked |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-21-mn-5043-story.html |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> He proceeded to build up his political base among France's several conservative parties, with a goal of reconstituting the Gaullist UDR into a [[Neo-Gaullist]] group, the Rally for the Republic (RPR). Chirac's first tenure as prime minister was also an arguably progressive one, with improvements in both the minimum wage and the social welfare system carried out during the course of his premiership.<ref name="palier1"/>

=== Mayor of Paris: 1977–1995 ===
After his departure from the cabinet, Chirac wanted to gain the leadership of the political right, to gain the French presidency in the future. The RPR was conceived as an electoral machine against President Giscard d'Estaing. Paradoxically, Chirac benefited from Giscard's decision to create the office of [[mayor (France)|mayor]] in Paris, which had been in abeyance since the 1871 [[Paris Commune|Commune]], because the leaders of the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] (1871–1940) feared that having municipal control of the capital would give the mayor too much power. In 1977, Chirac stood as a candidate against [[Michel d'Ornano]], a close friend of the president, and won. As mayor of Paris, Chirac's political influence grew. He held this post until 1995.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-12-15 |title=Profile: Jacques Chirac |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12666433 |access-date=2020-06-05 |archive-date=23 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723001059/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12666433 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Chirac supporters point out that, as mayor, he provided programmes to help the elderly, people with disabilities, and single mothers, and introduced the street-cleaning [[Motocrotte]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/12/worlddispatch.jonhenley |title=Merde most foul |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=UK |date=12 April 2002 |access-date=29 July 2010 |first=Jon |last=Henley |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826021821/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/12/worlddispatch.jonhenley |archive-date=26 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> while providing incentives for businesses to stay in Paris. His opponents contend that he installed "[[Clientelism|clientelist]]" policies.