“This is my last day at the Élysée.” Thus begins the book by the former President of the Republic. François Hollande writes about his five-year term, about his mandate. Throughout the 400 pages of this work, he opens up, somewhat like a personal diary.
He reflects on events, attacks, history, military interventions, hostage situations. He is at once an immediate historian, without the benefit of historical hindsight, and above all a direct witness to the facts.
The lessons of power take us behind the scenes, where everything is decided, in the council of ministers, in the great debates. International news, meetings with other leaders.
This book should be read with attention; we must remember the past, five years is both little and a lot. It is an archival book, a memoir, that of a President of the Republic.
One perceives between the lines of this work his solitude; he is alone before the decision to make, alone to make the choice whose consequence may be dramatic.
The lessons of power then become the awareness of these choices that the French, being not backstage, do not always understand the stakes and consequences of. The solitude of the power of a president who, in the morning, having completed his mandate, will hand over the keys of the house to his successor.
Upon reading this book, one has a different perspective on the presidential function, whose burden is not always measured.
To choose is to govern, and therein lies the difficulty. François Hollande has opened up the Élysée with his book, giving a different perspective on this republican monarch that is the president of the French Republic, a sovereign who reigns and, above all, governs.
Thierry Jan.
