It is a real marker in the exercise of power: the first hundred days of a presidential term. During this period, public opinion is supposed to be mostly in line with the newly elected Head of State. According to historians, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt would have taken advantage of the legitimacy that accompanies these three months of “state of grace” to impose strong images and measures, as soon as he took office in 1933. A tradition that French leaders seized on under the Fifth Republic.
Thanks to the many witnesses and leading actors, theand documentary hundred daysby Patrice Duhamel and Gabriel Le Bomin, retraces the issues and decisive moments that have marked the beginning of the mandate of the eight presidents elected since 1959. And in particular that of Emmanuel Macron. In 2017, aware of the importance of images, he made full use of the symbols of the function and endorsed the presidential costume. from the first hours of his mandate.
Youngest head of state ever elected under the Fifth Republic, without an organized political party, Emmanuel Macron imposes a solemnity on the evening of his election, during his first public appearance in front of the Louvre pyramid. “This seriousness, in my opinion, was a form of compensation for his youth.estimates the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves le Drian, interviewed in the documentary. And in a way, that’s what the French people were probably expecting at that time.”
Even more than his predecessors, Emmanuel Macron must affirm its legitimacy. “The ceremony in front of the Pyramid says this: ‘It’s my idea of function to live up to history. History with a capital H“, analyzes former minister François Bayrou.
But the message that the president absolutely wants to convey to the French is that he is also the chief of the armies. A few hours after his investiture, on May 14, 2017, he went up the Champs-Elysées in a military vehicle. A first for a President of the Republic. “In a single image, this young man, placed in a position of command, said who he wanted to be. continues François Bayrou. “This legitimizes him, when he could be considered too young for the function”abounds Jean-Yves le Drian.
By chaining the striking symbols, Emmanuel Macron has never ceased to promote the return of a strong leader, the antithesis of the image of the “normal” president that his predecessor François Hollande wanted to embody. What face will he show at the start of his second term? Re-elected on April 24 against Marine Le Pen, the head of state has not yet announced the date of his re-investiture ceremony.
The documentary hundred days, realized by Patrice Duhamel and Gabriel Le Bomin, airs Tuesday May 3 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2.