Former Presidents
Further information: List of Presidents of FranceAs of 2012 there are three living former Presidents:
| Name | Term of office | Date of birth |
|---|---|---|
| Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | 1974–1981 | (1926-02-02) 2 February 1926 (age 86) |
| Jacques Chirac | 1995–2007 | (1932-11-29) 29 November 1932 (age 79) |
| Nicolas Sarkozy | 2007–2012 | (1955-01-28) 28 January 1955 (age 57) |
According to French law, Former Presidents have guaranteed lifetime pension defined according to the pay grade of the Councillors of State, a courtesy diplomatic passport, and, according to the French Constitution (Article 56), membership of the Constitutional Council.
They also get personnel, an apartment and/or office, and other amenities, though the legal basis for these is disputed. In 2008, according to an answer by the services of the Prime Minister to a question from member of the National Assembly René Dosière, these facilities comprised: a security detail, a car with a chauffeur, office or housing space, maintained by the State. Two people service this space. In addition, the State funds 7 permanent collaborators.
Read more about this topic: President Of France
Famous quotes containing the word presidents:
“Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted in different scales. Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the constant omission of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Our presidents have been getting to be synthetic monsters, the work of a hundred ghost- writers and press agents so that it is getting harder and harder to discover the line between the man and the institution.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)