Nicolas Sarkozy is a inadequate , buttoned-down , hard - working Cassanova . He has crack down on whoredom and negotiated with terrorist Cuban sandwich to save children . He is an outsider who has worked his elbow room in . Some think he ’s Napoleon , others say he ’s Brutus . We ’re just trying to get a handle on him . Here are 7 things everyone should know about France ’s President .
1. He Was Mayor by 22
Sarkozy , the son of a Hungarian immigrant , did most of his growing up in Neuilly - sur - Seine , a wealthy residential area immediately to the west of Paris . His category was not as wealthy as those of most of his classmates , a fact he claims was humiliating and for the most part shaped who he is today . Sarkozy did n’t have to wait long to get the last jape , though . He pull in a law degree , which he finance by hawk ice cream and flowers , and promptly jump into the political area . At just 22 years old he became a member of Neuilly ’s city council , and in 1983 he became the city ’s city manager , a position he defy until 2002 .
2. He Broke his Mentor’s Heart (and Stabbed him in the Back)
In 1995 , Balladur ran for the presidency against Chirac . Sarkozy made the surprising decision to turn his back on his mentor Chirac and support Balladur ’s candidacy . ( The decision was all the more perplexing because Sarkozy had allegedly been romantically involved with Chirac ’s girl Claude . ) When Chirac bested Balladur , Sarkozy line up himself saddle with a powerful foe and temporarily lost his internal stead . Despite this betrayal , Chirac knew that Sarkozy had a certain personal appeal and drive that made him a political asset . When Chirac won reelection in 2002 , he decided to reconcile with Sarkozy , who took on a locker position as Minister of the Interior . Â France ’s internal minister of religion is in charge of civic defense and law enforcement , among other responsibilities , which made it the sodding position for Sarkozy to pull ahead his right - wing law - and - order view , include a crackdown on harlotry and a renewed emphasis on road safety . A 2004 shake-up of the cabinet go Sarkozy to a new position as finance minister , where he avail mastermind a authorities bailout of applied science titan Alstom , which had gone belly-up .
3. He was too Good to Ignore
By this meter , Sarkozy was start to found himself as France ’s leading conservativist . He won the leadership of the Union for a Popular Movement ( UPM ) in 2004 and left the storage locker to assume this role . From this platform Sarkozy pushed for economical reform , let in deficit reduction , a tightening of unemployment benefits for those who turn down body of work , and taxation simplification . During this full stop Chirac also convinced Sarkozy to render to his previous spatial relation as Minister of the Interior .
If Chirac had his eyes on a third term , though , Sarkozy ’s ambitions promptly lay waste product to those plans . As early as 2003 Sarkozy acknowledge he had his eyes on the presidential term ; when television station France2 asked him if he thought about being president when he shave in the morning , he quip , " I do , and not just when I trim . “
4. He’s Diminutive
Napoleon found a case law for Gallic leaders whose ambitions are larger than their inseams , and Sarkozy has picked up this mantel two centuries later . Â Reports deviate , but most peg Sarkozy ’s height at 5'5" or 5'6" , a marked change from Sarkozy ’s grandiloquent , thin predecessor Chirac .
5. But his Height Doesn’t Bother the Ladies
Sarkozy has been married three sentence , which in itself is n’t all that strange .  The stories behind his wedlock , though , must make Gallic tabloid writer feel like they ’re getting gifts from the promised land . He first married Marie - Dominique Culioli in 1982 ; they had two sons before divorcing in 1996.Although Sarkozy had been plagued by allegations of womanizing , things get voluptuous well before his divorcement . He officiated the wedding of former model Cecilia Ciganer - Albeniz to French telly in person Jacques Martin in 1984 as part of his responsibility as Neuilly ’s mayor . consort to later interviews , Sarkozy asked himself " Why am I marrying this woman to someone else? She is for me . “Despite these misgivings , Sarkozy and his first wife befriend the Martins , even go so far as to become godparent to each other ’s youngster .  Cecilia eventually left her married man to live with Sarkozy in 1988 despite the slight enlistment that both of them were still marital to other people . ( Despite this fact , she requested that she be known as Madame Sarkozy ; locals preferred to mockingly refer to her as " the mayor ’s harlot . “ ) The two were finally conjoin in 1996 and divorced in 2007 while Sarkozy was in office , give him another connection to Napoleon , who divorce wife Josephine in 1809 . During the divorcement , Cecilia impeach Sarkozy of being a meager philanderer . For his part , he could point to accusation that she did n’t vote for him in the second round of the presidential election and had undertaken very public affairs of her own . Sarkozy was n’t wanting for a first lady for long , though .  By December he ’d been make out canoodle with former model and singer Carla Bruni , who ’s almost thirteen age Sarkozy ’s junior and a solid forefront taller .  He was in good companionship , at least ; Bruni ’s former romanticistic links let in such luminaries as Mick Jagger , Donald Trump , and Eric Clapton . The pair wed the knot in January 2008 .
6. He Loves Celine Dion
Sarkozy has some highbrow hobbies , admit collecting Rolexes ( particularly Daytona framework ) , but many of his interests reflect his upbringing as just another normal Gallic guy . Â He unabashedly loves reality TV and admits that he enjoys Celine Dion . Lenny Kravitz tell reporters that Sarkozy so enjoyed his albumIt Is A Time For Revolutionthat the leader penned him a fan varsity letter about his appreciation .
7. He Has Love Handles (and they get edited out)
Sarkozy enjoys a fairly thick family relationship with the French press . Â When the magazineParis Matchran a exposure of a sylphlike , shirtless Sarkozy paddle a canoe on holiday in 2007 , the leader looked like the impression of health . Â What he really search like was the picture of good Photoshopping , though . French magazineL’Expresslater exposed the photograph as a fraudulence by bring out the pilot , which showed Sarkozy with sizable making love handgrip hanging over his shorts . Although the incident cause a minor stir , it ’s easy to see whyParis Matchwould be a turn gun - shy about embarrassing Sarkozy ; the previous twelvemonth he purportedly got an editor program fired following the publication of depiction of Cecilia and a boyfriend flat shopping .
