Emmanuel Macron Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here is a look at the life of France’s President Emmanuel Macron.

Personal

Birth date: December 21, 1977

Birth place: Amiens, France

Birth name: Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron

Father: Jean-Michel Macron, professor of neurology

Mother: Françoise Noguès-Macron, physician

Marriage: Brigitte Trogneux (2007-present)

Education: Université Paris Nanterre; Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (“Sciences Po”); École Nationale d’Administration, 2004

Religion: Baptized Roman Catholic when he was 12, but his spokesperson describes him as a “spiritual agnostic”

Other Facts

At age 39, Macron became the youngest president in French history.

Prior to being elected president of France, he had never held elected office.

Macron, a centrist, has said his aim is not to bring people to either the right or the left, but to unite the French people.

During his time as economy minister, he spearheaded the so-called “Macron Law,” which aimed to shake up the economy through labor reform. The measure had to be forced through the National Assembly with the help of a controversial parliamentary measure and led to several days of protest.

Worked on Francois Hollande‘s 2012 presidential campaign.

Macron’s wife, Brigitte Trogneux, was his high school drama teacher. By the time Macron was 17, he claimed he would eventually marry her, though she was married with three children at the time.

Timeline

2004-2008 – Finance inspector with the ministry of economy.

2008-2012 – Investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque in Paris.

2012-June 2014 – Serves as President Hollande’s deputy secretary-general.

August 26, 2014 – Replaces Arnaud Montebourg as Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs.

2015 – Is the chief architect of an economic reform bill for growth, activity and equal opportunities. The law becomes known as the “Macron Law.”

April 6, 2016 – Announces the launch of the political movement En Marche! (“On the Move!”).

August 30, 2016 – Resigns as economy minister. As Macron announces his resignation, he suggests he needs time to prepare for a presidential bid, stating “I am determined to do everything so our values, ideas and actions can transform France starting next year.”

November 16, 2016 – Officially declares he is running for president of France.

November 2016 – Macron’s book, “Révolution,” is published. It lays out his vision for France.

April 23, 2017 – In the first round of the presidential election, Macron receives more than 23% of the vote, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen just under 22%.

May 5, 2017 – Less than 48 hours before the second and final round of the presidential election, Macron is the victim of a “massive and coordinated hacking operation,” according to his campaign team. Around 14.5 gigabytes of emails, personal and business documents are posted to the text-sharing site, Pastebin, through links to more than 70,000 files. Officials from Macron’s En Marche! party say the perpetrators of the hack mixed fake documents with authentic ones “to create confusion and misinformation.”

May 7, 2017 – Macron defeats Le Pen with more than 66% of the vote, to become France’s next president.

May 14, 2017 – Sworn in as president.

May 29, 2017 – During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Macron calls for an end to an alleged crackdown on gay men in Chechnya.

June 11, 2017 – Macron’s party wins the majority of votes during the first round of parliamentary elections, albeit with low voter turnout. Less than 50% of people cast ballots.

June 18, 2017 – France holds its second round of parliamentary elections and, with 97% of voting results tallied, Macron’s party is on track to win a decisive majority of 300 seats.

June 23, 2017 – Macron and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appear in a video together discussing climate change. In the clip, posted by Schwarzenegger on Twitter, Macron says that he and Schwarzenegger will “make the planet great again,” echoing the campaign slogan of US President Donald Trump.

July 3, 2017 – A spokeswoman for the Paris Prosecutor’s office says that police have foiled an assassination plot against Macron. Authorities say that a 23-year-old man had been planning to attack Macron during a Bastille Day parade in Paris. The suspect, a self-described right-wing nationalist, told investigators that he wanted to make a political statement. Separately, Macron delivers a speech to legislators in which he pledges to lift the country’s terrorism-prompted state of emergency later in the year.

April 25, 2018 – Addresses a joint meeting of Congress. During his speech, Macron presses the United States to engage more in global affairs and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

December 10, 2018 – Macron responds to weeks of violent protests in a televised address saying the demonstrations have been “unacceptable” and “will not be in any way indulged.” He also proposes several social reforms, such as an increase in the minimum wage.

December 3, 2019 – During a NATO summit news briefing in London, Macron stands by his comments warning that Europe is facing the “brain death of NATO,” caused by American indifference to the transatlantic alliance. Trump called the comments “nasty” and “insulting.” Macron’s blunt comments came after the Trump Administration pulled US forces out of northern Syria in November, a move that dismayed European NATO members.

October 2, 2020 – While speaking in Les Mureaux, a northwestern suburb of Paris, Macron says that “Islam is a religion that is currently experiencing a crisis all over the world” and details a plan in the hopes of fighting “Islamist separatism.”

October 21, 2020 – At a national memorial event for teacher Samuel Paty who was beheaded in a terrorist attack in a northern Paris suburb after displaying the controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his students during a lesson, Macron praises the teacher for having “a passion for knowledge.” France will keep “loving debates, reasonable arguments, we will love science and its controversies,” the President adds. “We will not give up caricatures, drawings, even if others are retreating.”

December 17, 2020 – Macron tests positive for coronavirus after experiencing symptoms and will self-isolate for a week according to a statement from his office.

June 8, 2021 – While speaking to the public during a visit to southeast France, Macron is slapped in the face by a man in a crowd, video of the incident posted on social media shows. The man is later sentenced to four months in prison.

September 22, 2021 – US President Joe Biden and Macron speak for the first time after a major diplomatic crisis exploded between the two longtime allies over a deal to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In their phone call, Biden and Macron agree to meet in person at the end of next month in Europe.

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