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Video length: 4 min
VIDEO. The truth about the Presidents of the Republic with François Hollande
Are they well paid? Does a President of the Republic have the right to cry in public? Can it trigger nuclear weapons? The former French President, François Hollande, is playing the game of truth.
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Are they well paid? Does a President of the Republic have the right to cry in public? Can it trigger nuclear weapons? The former French president, François Hollande, is playing the game of truth.
“Presidents can unleash nuclear weapons because it is their responsibility” declares François Hollande when asked if a president can “start a nuclear war”. He specifies that there is no famous “red button” in a machine: “It’s just an order that’s given, and then there’s a procedure. Fortunately there is not a button, there is not a code that only the president would hold.” Regarding the salary of a French President of the Republic, François Hollande indicates that a president earns “€13,000”, recalling that “half of French people earn less than €2,000”.
“It is undoubtedly the greatest responsibility of a president: to decide on life and death”
Does the president often face death? “Yes” replies François Hollande, “This is the very definition of presidential responsibility. Sometimes, by a decision that a president can take – I have taken some – to send our soldiers to Mali, to use force in Syria, in Iraq… And this is undoubtedly the greatest responsibility of a president: deciding life, death”. The president doesn’t have the right to be overwhelmed by emotions? “That’s a question that was asked at the time of the attacks. How to both have the necessary compassion, the emotion linked to a tragedy, and maintain strength, firmness to reassure the population. So the president cannot give free rein to his emotions. But if he has no emotions, who is this president?”
About the “back to reality” after a presidential mandate, François Hollande explains that this return is “easy” And “even pleasant”. “It’s nice, real life. Walk in the street, go shopping, go to the cinema, to shows, even if it’s not necessarily that simple for a former president. But that’s life”. Do presidents no longer listen enough to French people after being elected? “No, it’s not that he no longer listens to them, it’s that he no longer sees them. It’s a distance that takes place and that’s what’s very damaging.” concludes François Hollande.
