The President of the French Republic (French: Président de la République française ; ) colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces and holder of the highest office within the Republic of France.
Four of France's five republics have had presidents as their heads of state, making the French presidency the oldest presidency in Europe still to exist in some form. In each of the republics' constitutions, the president's powers, functions and duties, and their relation with French governments differed.
The president of France is also the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, Grand Master of the Légion d'honneur and the Ordre national du Mérite and honorary proto-canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.
The current President of the Republic is François Hollande, who took office on 15 May 2012.
Read more about President Of France: Election, Powers, Criminal Responsibility and Impeachment, Succession and Incapacity, Pay and Official Residences, 2012 Election, Former Presidents, Presidential Spouse, Age Upon Entering and Leaving Office, Time in Office, Non-Presidential Heads of State, History
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“We must choose. Be a child of the past with all its crudities and imperfections, its failures and defeats, or a child of the future, the future of symmetry and ultimate success.”
—Frances E. Willard 1839–1898, U.S. president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1879-1891, author, activist. The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 137-40 (January 1887)
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