Jean Lecanuet

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Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (March 4, 1920 - February 21, 1993) was a French politician. He was born to a family of modest means, and gravitated towards literature during his studies. He received his diploma at the age of 22, becoming the youngest agrégé (full professor) in France. He participated in the Second World War French Resistance movement. He was arrested by the German forces in August 1944 but managed to escape. After the Liberation, he became a general inspector at the Ministry of Defence. Under the Fourth Republic, he held ministerial posts numerous times (11 posts in 10 years) and was a member of the Mouvement républicain populaire (MRP). From 1951 to 1955, he was MRP deputy from the Seine-Inférieure region. He became senator of Seine-Maritime in 1959 and was president of the MRP from 1963 to 1965.

Jean Lecanuet, 1965.

In 1965, he ran for the presidential election as a center-right candidate. He was supported by Paul Reynaud. He advocated modernity and european integration. His "modern-style" campaign and dashing smile had some journalists nickname him "the french Kennedy". Lecanuet obtained 3 777 120 votes (15,6 %) in the election's first round, forcing Charles de Gaulle to compete in a second round against François Mitterrand.

In 1968, he was elected Mayor of Rouen, a position he held until his death.

In 1972, he founded the Mouvement réformateur (Reformist Movement) with Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber. During the French legislative elections of 1973, Lecanuet negotiated the withdrawal of candidates with Pierre Messmer to ensure the success of the majority. Elected deputy of Seine-Maritime. Actively participated in the 1974 presidential election campaign in support of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He was Minister of Justice in Jacques Chirac's first cabinet (1974-1976. From 1976 to 1977, he was Minister of State in charge of planning and the l’Aménagement du territoire (zoning commission) Raymond Barre's first cabinet. In 1978, he was elected as president of the UDF, the party coalition created to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He held that position until 1988. From 1979 to 1988, he was a Deputy in the European Parliament and, as Senator for Seine-Maritime, the French Senate's chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces Commission, a post that he had already held between 1971 and 1973.