Article: Obituary: Francois Mitterrand

There is a superstition in French political circles that no President of the Republic should attempt to serve two terms. Albert Lebrun had hardly been re-elected when he was overwhelmed by the catastrophe of 1940. General Charles de Gaulle was only a little more than halfway through his second mandate when his defeat in the referendum of 1969 caused him to resign. Francois Mitterrand is said to have hesitated over standing for re-election in 1988, but he rejected the advice of those who were superstitious just as he disregarded the pleas of those who urged him to stand aside and devote himself to his memoirs.

The result was that he became the first man in French history to be twice elected ...

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