Editing Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (section)

=== Presidential election victory ===
In 1974, after the sudden death of President Georges Pompidou, Giscard announced his candidacy for the presidency.<ref name=WPO/><ref name=NYTobit/> His two main challengers were [[François Mitterrand]] for the left and [[Jacques Chaban-Delmas]], a former Gaullist prime minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20201203-key-dates-in-the-life-of-former-french-president-val%C3%A9ry-giscard-d-estaing|title=Key dates in the life of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing|date=3 December 2020|publisher=France24|access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref> [[Jacques Chirac]] and other Gaullist personalities published the {{ill|Call of the 43|fr|Appel des 43}} where they explained that Giscard was the best candidate to prevent the election of Mitterrand.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-parlements1-2007-1-page-109.htm|title=The Appel des 43 and the Gaullist movement: political maneuver, generational change and the rebellion of the "godillots"|journal=Parlement[s], Revue d'histoire politique |volume=7 |issue=1 |publisher=Cairn|access-date=3 December 2020|last1=Pozzi |first1=Jérôme |doi=10.3917/parl.007.0109 }}</ref> In [[1974 French presidential election|the election]], Giscard finished well ahead of Chaban-Delmas in the first round, though coming second to Mitterrand.<ref name=BBCobit/> In the run-off on 20 May, however, Giscard narrowly defeated Mitterrand, receiving 50.7% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|title=France Elects Giscard President For 7 Years After A Close Contest; Left Turned Back|first=Flora|last=Lewis|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70617FF3959127A93C2AB178ED85F408785F9|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 May 1974|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227013534/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70617FF3959127A93C2AB178ED85F408785F9|archive-date=27 February 2014}}</ref>