Macron’s Balancing Act: Winning Respect for Office Without Seeming Distant
- Macron must decide on whether to be hands-on or more distant
- France’s next president is steeped in history and literature
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Emmanuel Macron has many challenges awaiting him when he becomes president of France. But one of the most difficult will be winning back popular respect for the office he’ll soon inhabit, while convincing skeptical voters that he’s not a distant elitist.
In a country where the presidency and its trappings carry some of the aura of the kings and emperors of the past, how Macron handles that balancing act may determine his success or failure. The high-school actor is steeped in French history and literature and rehearses his major speeches with his wife, a former drama teacher. The recent past also offers options for how to handle his new job, from the aloof style of Francois Mitterrand to the hyperactive omnipresence of Nicolas Sarkozy.