Don't call it a comeback: Nicolas Sarkozy wants to be president of France again

Don't call it a comeback: Nicolas Sarkozy wants to be president of France again
(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Nicolas Sarkozy, who in 2012 became the first incumbent French president to fail to secure a second term since 1981, announced today that he will seek to lead his party, the conservative Union for a Popular Movement, in what is seen as the first step toward a presidential campaign in 2017.

Americans may remember Sarkozy with a certain degree of fondness. Republicans embraced his rise to power in 2007, comparing his brash style favorably to his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who famously refused to join George W. Bush's coalition of the willing in Iraq. Mitt Romney went so far as to call Sarkozy a potential "blood brother."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.