His tenure was marked by a more liberal attitude on social issuesβsuch as divorce, contraception and abortionβand by attempts to modernise the country and the office of the presidency, notably overseeing such far-reaching infrastructure projects as the TGV and the turn towards reliance on nuclear power as France's main energy source. He promoted liberalisation of trade; however, his popularity suffered from the economic downturn that followed the energy crisis , marking the end of the " Trente Glorieuses " the "Thirty Glorious Years" of prosperity after He imposed austerity budgets, and allowed unemployment to rise in order to avoid deficits.
Giscard d'Estaing in the centre faced political opposition from both sides of the spectrum: from the newly unified left under Mitterrand and a rising Jacques Chirac , who resurrected Gaullism on a right-wing opposition line. In , despite a high approval rating, he was defeated in a runoff against Mitterrand , with As president, Giscard d'Estaing promoted cooperation among the European nations, especially in tandem with West Germany , β ruled by the first , second and third cabinet under chancelor Helmut Schmidt SPD.
As a former president, he was a member of the Constitutional Council. He also served as president of the Regional Council of Auvergne from to Involved with the process of European integration , he notably presided over the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted the ill-fated Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. He died at the age of 94, and is the longest-lived French president in history.
He joined the French Resistance and participated in the Liberation of Paris ; during the liberation, he was assigned to protecting Alexandre Parodi. In , while Giscard had been nominated Minister of Economy and Finance , his party broke with the Gaullists and left the majority coalition. However, in , he was dismissed from the cabinet. For that reason the Gaullists refused to re-elect him to that position after the legislative election.
During the presidential campaign , he supported the winning candidate Georges Pompidou , after which he returned to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In , after the sudden death of President Georges Pompidou, Giscard announced his candidacy for the presidency. In his appointments he was innovative regarding women. Giroud worked to improve access to meaningful employment and to reconcile careers with childbearing.
