Kiss Austerity Goodbye

What the election of Franois Hollande means for France, Europe and the world

Marc Chaumeil

Francois Hollande, left, poses for a photograph with a fan during a public meeting at Place Jean Jaures

There are surely people who are ecstatic that François Hollande, 57, will be the new President of France — perhaps the members of his immediate family or the residents of the central French city of Tulle, where he spent seven years as mayor, who gave him more than 75% of their votes. But the mild-mannered Hollande, who narrowly beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a runoff election on May 6, became the first Socialist to lead the French Republic since 1995 as much for what he isn't as for what he is. He isn't Sarkozy, the temperamental conservative with the supermodel wife...

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