He is a an astute politician, trained at the Mitterand graduate school of French socialism, where he learned to use dual language.
FORBES: Hollande vs Merkel: Europe's heart breaker
2.
He added the claim that the same system of secret payments existed under former presidents Georges Pompidou, Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Francois Mitterand.
BBC: Dominique de Villepin and Jacques Chirac in 2007
3.
Lefebvre described Hollande as "the choice of the past, " with other Sarkozy backers playing up the fact that Mitterand didn't select him as one of his ministers during his 14 years as president.