François Hollande

François Hollande (born 12 August 1954 in Rouen) is a French politician who served as the 24th President of the French Republic from 15 May 2012 to 14 May 2017. A graduate of HEC Paris, Sciences Po, and the École nationale d'administration (ENA), he rose through the Parti socialiste (PS), serving as its First Secretary from 1997 to 2008 and as a deputy for Corrèze. He defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the May 2012 presidential runoff.

His presidency was defined by overlapping economic, security, and diplomatic challenges. Domestically, Hollande pursued the Loi Taubira legalising same-sex marriage in May 2013 and introduced a controversial 75% top marginal tax on high incomes (later struck down in its initial form by the Constitutional Council and revised). His economic record was constrained by sluggish growth and persistent unemployment, and the 2016 Loi Travail labour reforms drove large street protests.

In foreign policy, Hollande:

• Authorised Opération Serval in Mali (January 2013) against jihadist advances, later transitioning to the regional Opération Barkhane in 2014.
• Backed military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria from 2014 onward.
• Hosted the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, which produced the Paris Agreement adopted on 12 December 2015.
• Was a principal Western negotiator, alongside Angela Merkel, of the Minsk II agreement on eastern Ukraine in February 2015.

His tenure was marked by major terrorist attacks, including the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks (January 2015), the 13 November 2015 Paris attacks, and the Nice truck attack (14 July 2016). Hollande declared and repeatedly extended a nationwide état d'urgence.

With approval ratings at historic lows, in December 2016 Hollande became the first sitting president of the Fifth Republic to decline to seek re-election. He was succeeded by his former economy minister, Emmanuel Macron. In July 2024 he returned to the National Assembly as a deputy for Corrèze.