Jean Lecanuet

Jean Lecanuet
Jean Lecanuet in 1959
Minister of Justice
In office 28 May 1974 – 25 August 1976
President	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Prime Minister	Jacques Chirac
Preceded by	Jean Taittinger
Succeeded by	Olivier Guichard
Personal details
Born	(1920-03-04)4 March 1920 Rouen, France
Died	22 February 1993(1993-02-22) (aged 72) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Nationality	French
Political party	Popular Republican Movement (1944-1966) Democratic Centre (1966-1976) Centre of Social Democrats (1976-1993)
Other political affiliations	Union for French Democracy (1978-1993)
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Jean Adrien François Lecanuet (4 March 1920 – 22 February 1993) was a French centrist 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 Christian-Democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP). From 1951 to 1955, he was MRP deputy from the Seine-Inférieure region. He became senator from Seine-Maritime in 1959 and was president of the MRP from 1963 to 1965.

In 1965, he ran in the presidential election as a center-right candidate. He was supported by Paul Reynaud. He advocated modernity and European integration and declared to represent a third way between Gaullism on the one hand and the Socialist and Communist Left on the other hand. 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. He replaced the ageing MRP by the Democratic Centre, integrating the liberal-conservative National Centre of Independents and Peasants.

In 1972, he founded the Reforming 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 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.

In 1986 at the beginning of the first period of "cohabitation" in modern French politics (a President and Prime Minister from opposing parties sharing power) Chirac nominated Lecanuet as Foreign Minister, but President François Mitterrand vetoed the appointment, along with some of Chirac's other nominees.^[1]

In 1968, he was elected Mayor of Rouen, a position he held until his death in 1993.

Personal life

He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen^[2]

Political career

Governmental functions

Secretary of State for Relations with States involved : 1955–1956.

Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice : 1974–1976.

Minister of State, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice : January–August 1976.

Minister of State, Planning and Plan : 1976–1977.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament : 1979–1988 (Resignation). Elected in 1979, reelected in 1984.

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Seine-Maritime : 1951–1955 (Resignation) / 1973–1974 (Became minister in 1974) / March–September 1986 (Reelected in the Senate in September). Elected in 1951, reelected in 1973, 1986.

Senate of France

President of the Foreign Affairs Commission in the Senate : 1971-1973 / 1978-1993.

Senator of Seine-Maritime : 1959–1973 (Reelected in the National Assembly in 1973) / 1977–1986 (Reelected in the National Assembly in 1986) / 1986–1993 (He died in 1993). Elected in 1959, reelected in 1968, 1977, 1986.

General Council

President of the General council of Seine-Maritime : 1974–1993 (He died in 1993). Reelected in 1976, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992.

General councillor of Seine-Maritime : 1958–1993 (He died in 1993). Reelected in 1964, 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988.

Municipal Council

Mayor of Rouen : 1968–1993 (He died in 1993). Reelected in 1971, 1977, 1983, 1989.

Municipal councillor of Rouen : 1968–1993 (He died in 1993). Reelected in 1971, 1977, 1983, 1989.

Political functions

President of the Union for French Democracy : 1978–1988

President of the Centre of Social Democrats : 1976–1982.

References

Sources

• Chaline (Nadine-Josette), Jean Lecanuet, Beauchesne, Paris, 2000.
• Priol (Philippe), Jean Lecanuet, le vol de l’albatros, Maître Jacques, Caen, 2001.