Fillon, François Charles Amand

Fillon, François Charles Amand

(fräNswä` shärl ämäN` fēyôN`), 1954–, French political leader, b. Le Mans. A conservative, he has served as an assembly deputy (1981–2002, 2007–) and a senator (2004–7) from Sarthe as well as in local elected posts. He was appointed minister for higher education and research (1993–97) by Premier ÉdouardBalladurBalladur, Édouard
, 1929–, French political leader, b. Turkey. He moved to France as a child and grew up in Marseille. A Gaullist and member of the Rally for the Republic, he served under Premier Georges Pompidou in the 1960s and was finance minister under
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 and, after the election of President Jacques ChiracChirac, Jacques René
, 1932–, French political leader, president of France (1995–2007), b. Paris. He attended the National School of Administration, joined the civil service, and began his political career in 1961 working for Premier Georges Pompidou.
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, served as minister (and then junior minister) for telecommunications and postal services (1995–97) until the Socialists won control of the French parliament. When the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won the 2002 elections, Fillon returned to the cabinet as social affairs and labor minister (2002–4) and successfully negotiated with the labor unions to win important pension and labor reforms. Subsequently minister for education and research, he allied with Nicolas SarkozySarkozy, Nicolas
(Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa) , 1955–, French politician, president of France (2007–12), b. Paris. The son of a minor Hungarian aristocrat who immigrated to France and married the daughter of Greek immigrants, Sarkozy became a
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 after being removed from the cabinet in reshuffle in 2005. Fillon directed Sarkozy's successful presidential campaign in 2007 and served (2007–12) as premier after Sarkozy took office. In 2016 Fillon, running as a free-market, socially conservative candidate, won the presidential primary of the Republicans (the former UMP), but his subsequent campaign was damaged by scandals including charges that his wife was paid for a sham position in his office and he placed third.