GISCARD D'ESTAING, VALRY

born Feb. 2, 1926, Koblenz, Ger. Giscard d'Estaing, 1985 French political leader who served as the third president of the Fifth Republic of France (197481). Giscard was the eldest son of a prominent French financier and economist and member of a patrician family. He attended the cole Polytechnique (interrupting his schooling in 194445 to serve in the French army) and the cole Nationale d'Administration in Paris. In the early 1950s he worked in the Finance Ministry. Giscard was elected to the French National Assembly in 1956 and was a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly (195658). He served as the secretary of state for finance (195962) and was appointed finance minister (196266) by President Charles de Gaulle. During his first term of office as finance minister, France attained a balanced budget for the first time in 30 years. His international economic policiesamong them his attempt to limit American economic influence in Franceand his other conservative financial measures helped cause a recession and brought him discredit in the business and labour sectors; he was dismissed. In 1966 Giscard founded and served as first president of the Independent Republicans, a conservative party that worked in coalition with the Gaullists. From 1969 to 1974 he was again finance minister under President Georges Pompidou. Giscard was elected to the presidency in a runoff election against the leftist candidate Franois Mitterrand on May 19, 1974. One of the notable achievements of his presidency was France's role in the strengthening of the European Economic Community. He was defeated in another runoff with Mitterrand on May 10, 1981. Giscard returned to politics in 1982, serving as conseiller gnral of Puy-de-Dme dpartement until 1988. In 1988 he became leader of the Union for French Democracy, a coalition of right-centrist parties. Among his several published works are Dmocratie franaise (1976; French Democracy) and two volumes of memoirs.