FRANCE: HISTORIAN SUGGESTS THAT FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON COULD RUN FOR OFFICE IN FRANCE
Record ID:
442964
FRANCE: HISTORIAN SUGGESTS THAT FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON COULD RUN FOR OFFICE IN FRANCE
- Title: FRANCE: HISTORIAN SUGGESTS THAT FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON COULD RUN FOR OFFICE IN FRANCE
- Date: 17th January 2001
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 15, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. SCU NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE DATED JANUARY 10, 2001 (3 SHOTS) 0.13 PARIS, FRANCE - FILE - (JUNE 17, 1999) (REUTERS) 2. SLV ELYSEE COURTYARD; MV PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON REVIEWING REPUBLICAN GUARD; SLV EXTERIOR OF ELYSEE PALACE (4 SHOTS) 0.36 PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 12, 2001) (REUTERS TV) 3. (SOUNDBITE) (French) HISTORIAN PATRICK WEIL SAYING "He can come to France and as soon as he arrives he can ask for his French citizenship. Not only he did not know this but most of the French people did not know it either. Since I wrote the article, I have heard many people saying that if he runs in the presidential elections he would have a good score. First of all, he is a very well known person, he does not have to campaign too much to make him known unlike other candidates to the presidential elections -- apart from Mr. Chirac and Mr.Jospin --who are unknown." 1.11 PARIS, FRANCE - FILE (JUNE 17, 1999) (REUTERS) 4. MV/SLV/SCU CLINTON WALKING IN THE STREET AND SHAKING HANDS WITH LOCAL PEOPLE (3 SHOTS) 1.34 PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 12, 2001) (REUTERS TV) 5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PATRICK WEIL SAYING "Because French people study much history at school, they know that they have shown solidarity with the American people during their revolution and that the American people have shown solidarity with the French people during the French revolution. They know that they (the Americans) have supported the French during the first and the Second World War, they know that De Gaulle supported Kennedy during the missiles crisis in Cuba. In reality, it is a difficult but in the end a brotherly alliance." 1.59 PARIS, FRANCE - FILE (JUNE 17, 1999) (REUTERS) 6. MV CLINTON WALKING IN THE LOUVRE GARDENS SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS AND FANS (2 SHOTS) 2.15 PARIS, FRANCE (JANUARY 12, 2001) (REUTERS TV) 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK WEIL SAYING "What makes Clinton sympathetic to the French was not the liaison but was the way the liaison was used against him by his Republican opponents. I dont think the liaison made him popular and in fact, it shows how we feel about these kind of things. This liaison was part of his private life and it should never have been in the public and used politically against him." 2.46 8. SLV STREET SCENE 2.49 9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG WOMAN SAYING "I would definitely prefer Bill CLinton as president rather than our President in office." 2.54 10. (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING "It would be a real slap in the face but why not ? We speak about Europe, about the globalization, everything goes along those lines. Question : Why would you choose Clinton. Answer: In fact, he is what all the women dream of having: a man 3.11 11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN SAYING "He should think again of his private life. Question : What would you think if he was becoming President of France. Answer : Why not. He has been a good president for the United States, he could be a good president in France." 3.24 12. CUTAWAY 3.26 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICK WEIL SAYING "During the French revolution in 1792, Georges Washington who was at that time President of United States, was made honorary citizen of France with 17 other famous foreigners. So, it would not have been the first time that we would have given the citizenship to an American President if we do it for Clinton." 3.58 PARIS, FRANCE - FILE - (JUNE 17, 1999) (REUTERS) 14. MV U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC AT PODIUM IN THE ELYSEE GARDENS; THE TWO MEN SMILE AND SHAKE HANDS 4.05 15. MV CLINTON AND CHIRAC WAVE AND WALK AWAY 4.08 16. SLV CLINTON AND CHIRAC WALKING IN THE ELYSEE GARDENS (2 SHOTS) 4.16 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st February 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA2LGZCSY3H6FZDO3UIDEOSVT47
- Story Text: If Bill Clinton finds himself at a loose end after
leaving the White House, he could always try to run in next
year's French presidential election, a French historian has
suggested.
French historian Patrick Weil said last week that Bill
Clinton, who leaves office on January 20, could benefit from a
little-known nationality law for former French territories and
put himself on the fast-track for French citizenship, allowing
him to stand in the 2002 ballot.
He can come to France and as soon as he arrives he can
ask for his French citizenship. Not only he did not know it
but most of the French people did not know it either. said
Patrick Weil.
The law, passed in 1961, enables citizens of states or
territories once run by France to apply immediately for
naturalisation, bypassing the normal five-year residency
requirement for French passport hopefuls.
Arkansas, where Clinton was born, was once part of
French Louisiana, said Weil, who spelled out his proposal in a
tongue-in-cheek open letter to Clinton in the New York Times
on Wednesday (10 January).
As a naturalised French citizen, you would have the same
full rights as all other French citizens. That includes
running for the presidency, he wrote in the letter.
Weil said that since he wrote the article, he heard many
French people saying that Clinton would get a good score if he
was running in next years French presidential elections.
Weil, a senior research fellow at the French National
Centre for Scientific Research, told Reuters the nationality
law was approved at a time when France was granting
independence to a number of its colonies.
Weil pointed out that during the French revolution,
Georges Washington who was at that time President of the
United States, was made honorary citizen of France together
with 17 other famous foreigners.
It would not have been the first time that we would have
given the citizenship to an American President said Weil.
Because France has held so many territories during its
history, millions of people are eligible for preferential
nationality treatment, including all Dutch citizens, most
north Italians, many Germans and inhabitants of Catalonia.
However, should Clinton decide to seek French
nationality, a few hurdles would stand in the way.
For one thing, he would need to take up residency in
France and would also need to learn French.
A crash course in French might be a small price to pay in
return for a stab at the French presidency.
Unlike in the United States, a French president can run
for office as often as he likes and, with a majority in
parliament, enjoys much more power at home than his American
counterpart.
The French head of state is also treated with much greater
respect by the press than in the United States, insuring that
embarrassing personal problems rarely make it to the public
eye.
What makes Clinton sympathetic to the French was not the
liaison but was the way the liaison was used against him by
his Republican opponents. I dont think the liaison made him
popular and in fact, it shows how we feel about these kind of
things.
This liaison was part of his private life and it should never
have been in the public and used politically against him said
Veil.
Although France views the United States with great
suspicion and is highly sensitive to perceived U.S. cultural
hegemony, Clinton himself is popular on this side of the
Atlantic, the Monica Lewinsky scandal doing nothing to tarnish his
reputation.
I would definitely prefer Bill Clinton as President rather
than our President in office said one woman in the street.
The overall feeling is that Bill Clinton would be a good
president for France.
France sold French Louisiana, 828,000 square miles (2.144
million sq km) of land west of the Mississippi -- to the
United States in 1803 for $15 million.
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