Emmanuel Macron sworn in as president of France

(Image credit: Charly Triballeau/Getty Images)

published 14 May 2017

Emmanuel Macron was sworn in as the new president of France on Sunday, one week after his decisive victory over nationalist Marine Le Pen. At just 39, the centrist, pro-European Union Macron is France's youngest leader since Napoleon Bonaparte. He founded his own political party just one year ago and has never before held elected office.

"The world and Europe need France more than ever. They need a strong France that is sure of its destiny. A France that upholds freedom and solidarity," Macron said in his inauguration speech. "We will take all our responsibilities to provide, every time it's needed, a relevant response to big contemporary crises."

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.

Explore More

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox