Le Tout Chirac: A life at the top: From John Lichfield in yesterday's Independent, a brilliantly succinct A-to-Z summary of Chirac's political career. Truly an essential read.
Choice excerpts:
In the 1980s, M. Laumond says, the procession of women into M. Chirac's office was so constant that women staffers would joke: "Chirac? Three minutes. Shower included."
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In 1979 he campaigned as a virulent Eurosceptic in the European Parliament elections. France, he said, faced "economic servitude to Bonn ... national annihilation by Brussels". In the presidential campaign of 1988, he transformed himself into European visionary, with forests of blue and yellow European flags at all his rallies.
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In their last eight years in the official apartments of the Mayor [of Paris], Jacques and Bernadette spent €2m on food and drink (not including official functions). This worked out at €684 a day (including €60 a day on "herbal tea").
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Vast quantities of cash passed through M. Chirac's hands. It was moved around Paris in briefcases, even suitcases. Chirac is said to have kept the cash in a safe in his private lavatory at the town hall, using the flush to cover the sound of the "clicks" when he turned the dial.
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[In the early 1950s] he also sold ice cream in a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Boston. One of his most treasured possessions is a certificate, signed by Howard Johnson himself, which declares that: "Mr Jack Chirac is a first-class soda jerk."
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In July 1979, Anh Dao Traxel, a 21-year-old Vietnamese " boat person", arrived friendless at Charles de Gaulle airport. She was approached by a tall man who told her: "Don't cry any more, my dear. From now on, you will live with us." And so Anh became the Chiracs' " secret" foster daughter, living in the Paris town hall.
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His favourite food is "Tête de Veau", which is not for the squeamish. One recipe, in English, on the internet begins with: "Rip the face off a baby cow ..."
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In 2005 an open microphone recorded M. Chirac's distaste for British cuisine. He said: "The only thing that they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease. You cannot trust people who have such bad cuisine. It is the country with the worst food after Finland."
[....]
Jacques Chirac is a great fan of Japanese Sumo wrestling. He sits up late at night drinking Corona beer and watching Sumo tapes, sent from Japan.
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Why did M. Chirac spend part of his 2004 summer holiday in the small, rainy village of North Hatley in Quebec? The satirical television puppet show, Les Guignols de l'Info, suggested M. Chirac sneaked away to have a face-lift, something for which Canada is celebrated.
As a flag-waving patriot, I was unware of that particular source of Canadian national pride.
At the end of the piece is a list of famous Chirac quotes. To summarise the career I would choose "Promises are binding only for those who receive them" and to summarise the man it's got to be "You know, at the end of the day, I like only two things: cavalry trumpets and detective novels". Brilliant!
For more amusement from the political career of Jacques Chirac, see Karl Zéro's scathingly hirlarious documentary film Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac (2006). I don't think it's been released here, but it was shown at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival.
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