Origins and education
In high school at the Lycée Carnot, he earned top grades and gained entry to prestigious schools. He graduated from
HEC Paris in 1971 and from
Sciences-Po in 1972. He sat and failed the entrance examination for l'Ecole nationale d'administration, but obtained a degree in public law, as well as a
Ph.D and an
agrégation (1977) in economics at the Université Paris X.
[edit]Personal life
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is married to the French journalist
Anne Sinclair. He has a condition that causes a drooping eyelid, called
ptosis.
[edit]Academic career
In 1971, he worked at the
Centre de recherche sur l'épargne (Research Centre on Savings) alongside
Paul Hermelin, who many years later (1991) was to become his chief of staff at the Ministry of Industry, and
Denis Kessler, at the time a member of the
Revolutionary Communist League and a future vice-president of the
MEDEF employers' union. In 1982, Kessler became his teaching assistant in
Nanterre, and co-authored
L’Épargne et la Retraite ("
Savings and Retirement") with him the same year.
He came back to Sciences Po to teach the introductory economics course from 2000 to 2007.
[edit]Political career
[edit]Minister for Industry (1991–1993)
After the electoral defeat of 1993, Strauss-Kahn was appointed by former Prime Minister
Michel Rocard chairman of the
groupe des experts du PS ("Group of Experts of the Socialist Party"), created by
Claude Allègre. The same year, he founded the law firm "DSK Consultants" and worked as a business lawyer.
In June 1995, he was elected mayor of
Sarcelles and married
Anne Sinclair, a famous television journalist working for the private channel
TF1and in charge of a political show,
Sept sur Sept. She ceased presenting this show after Strauss-Kahn's nomination as Minister of Economics and Finance in 1997 to avoid conflict of interest, while Strauss-Kahn himself would cede his place as mayor to
François Pupponi in order to avoid double responsibilities.
[edit]Minister for Economics, Finances, and Industry (1997–1999)
Although it was in theory contrary to the Socialist Party's electoral program, he implemented a wide
privatization program, which included among others the
IPO of
France Telecom; he also implemented some deregulation policies in the
research and development sector. The French economy achieved an excellent performance during his term of office: the
GDP increased, whereas unemployment and public debt decreased (creation of 300,000 jobs in 1998, a level not seen since 1969). This helped to strengthen his popularity and managed to win the support of former supporters of
Lionel Jospin and
Michel Rocard, making him the leader of the reform-oriented group
Socialisme et démocratie. Strauss-Kahn tried to oppose the working time reduction to
35 hours, a measure proposed by
Martine Aubry, Minister for Social Policies.
In 1998 he became one of the leaders of the Socialist Party for the regional elections in the
Ile-de-France region (Paris and suburbs), which were won by the PS. But as Strauss-Kahn refused to exchange his ministry for the executive leadership of the Ile-de-France,
Jean-Paul Huchon became the president of the regional council.
In 1999, he was accused of corruption in two financial scandals related to
Elf Aquitaine and the
MNEF, a student mutual
health insurance, and decided to resign from his ministerial office to fight these charges, in agreement with the "
Balladur jurisprudence." He was replaced by
Christian Sautter. He was acquitted in November 2001, and was reelected in a by-election in the Val-d'Oise.
As Minister of Economics and Finance, Strauss-Kahn succeeded in decreasing the
VAT to 5.5% for renovation works in construction, thus supporting this activity. At the same time, he decreased the budget deficit, which was more than 3% of GDP under
Alain Juppé's center-right government (1995–97). He thus prepared France's entrance in the
euro zone. Strauss-Kahn also repealed the Thomas Act on
hedge fundsand launched the
Conseil d'orientation des retraites (Orientation Council on
Pensions).
Strauss-Kahn succeeded in combining followers of Jospin and Rocard in the same political movement,
Socialisme et démocratie, but failed to make it more than an informal network.
[edit]In opposition
After
Jacques Chirac's success in the
2002 presidential election and the following
Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP)'s majority in Parliament, Strauss-Kahn was reelected deputy on 16 June 2002, in the 8th circonscription of the Val-d'Oise. He first declined in taking part in the new leadership of the PS, then in the opposition, in the 2003 congress of the party. But he joined the party's leadershp again at the end of 2004, and was given overall responsibility for drawing up the Socialist programme for the
2007 presidential election, along with
Martine Aubry and
Jack Lang. During the summer meeting of 2005, he announced that he would be a candidate for the primary elections of the Socialist Party for the presidential election.
Strauss-Kahn was one of the first French politician to enter the
blogosphere;
[5] his blog became one of the most visited, along with Juppé's blog during his stay in Quebec.
[6][edit]IMF Managing Director
Strauss-Kahn sought the nomination for the Socialist candidacy in the 2007 presidential election. His challengers were former prime minister
Laurent Fabius and
Ségolène Royal, the president of the
Poitou-Charentes region. Strauss-Kahn finished second, behind Royal. On 13 April 2007, Strauss-Kahn called for an "anti-
Sarkozy front" between the two rounds of the forthcoming
presidential election.
[7] Following Ségolène Royal's defeat, Strauss-Kahn criticized the PS's strategy and its chairman,
François Hollande.
[8] Along with Fabius, he then resigned from the party's national directorate in June 2007.
[9]On 10 July 2007, he became the consensus European nominee to be the head of the IMF, with the personal support of President
Nicolas Sarkozy (member of the center-right
UMP party). Former Polish Prime Minister
Marek Belka withdrew his candidacy as it was opposed by the majority of European countries.
[10] Some critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.
[11]Strauss-Kahn became the front runner in the race to become Managing Director of the IMF, with the support of the 27-nation
European Union, the United States, China and most of Africa. On 28 September 2007, the
International Monetary Fund's 24
executive directors selected him as the new
managing director. Strauss-Kahn replaces
Spain's
Rodrigo de Rato.
[12] On 30 September 2007, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was formally named as the new head of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF). The only other nominee was the Czech
Josef Tošovský, a late candidate proposed by Russia. Strauss-Kahn said: "
I am determined to pursue without delay the reforms needed for the IMF to make financial stability serve the international community, while fostering growth and employment."
[13][edit]Harassment scandals
On October 18, 2008, the IMF announced it would conduct an investigation into an allegation reported by a long-standing governing board member,
Shakour Shaalan of Egypt, that Strauss-Kahn had a
one night stand with
Piroska Nagy, a Hungarian-born senior economist at the IMF, who subsequently left the IMF with a severance package.
[14] On October 25, 2008, the IMF Board issued the findings of the investigation. While noting that the affair was "regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director," the Board cleared Strauss-Kahn of
harassment, favoritism or
abuse of power, and indicated that he would remain in his post.
[15][16]
In May 2010 a book written by an anonymous IMF employee, "
Cassandre", detailed Mr Strauss-Kahn's continuing healthy interest in attractive women.
[17] The Times quoted her: “After identifying his prey, he bombards them with text messages, usually with the opening salvo 'I want you' ”, writes Cassandre. “He is direct and makes no concessions.” While the author remains anonymous for the sake of her career, the book is published by the eminent
Editions Plon, founded in 1852
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