Emmanuel Macron, Current President of France
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (French: [emanɥɛl ʒɑ̃ miʃɛl fʁedeʁik makʁɔ̃]; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has been serving as the president of France since 14 May 2017.
Born in Amiens, Macron studied philosophy at Paris Nanterre University, later completing a master's degree in public affairs at Sciences Po and graduating from the École nationale d'administration in 2004. He worked as a senior civil servant at the Inspectorate General of Finances and later became an investment banker at Rothschild & Co.
Macron was appointed a deputy secretary general by President François Hollande shortly after his election in May 2012, making Macron one of Hollande's senior advisers. He was later appointed to the French cabinet as Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in August 2014 by prime minister Manuel Valls. In this role, Macron championed a number of business-friendly reforms. He resigned from the cabinet in August 2016, launching a campaign for the 2017 French presidential election. Although Macron had been a member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009, he ran in the election under the banner of La République En Marche!, a centrist and pro-European political movement he founded in April 2016.
Partly thanks to the Fillon affair, Macron topped the ballot in the first round of voting, and was elected President of France on 7 May 2017 with 66.1% of the vote in the second round, defeating Marine Le Pen. At the age of 39, Macron became the youngest president in French history. He appointed Édouard Philippe as prime minister, and in the 2017 French legislative election a month later Macron's party, renamed La République En Marche (LREM), secured a majority in the National Assembly. During his presidency, Macron has overseen several reforms to labour laws and taxation. Opposition to his reforms, particularly a proposed fuel tax, culminated in the 2018 yellow vests protests and other protests. In 2020, he appointed Jean Castex as prime minister following Philippe's resignation. From 2020, he has led France's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout.
1977Dec, 21
Emmanuel Macron
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Events on 1977
- 23Mar
Watergate scandal
The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) are videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. - 5Jul
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown. - 4Aug
Jimmy Carter
U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy. - 15Aug
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. - 21Nov
God Save the Queen
Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand".