Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , 1926-, French political leader, president of France (1974-81); b. Germany. A member of the national assembly at the age of 29, he was deputy finance minister (1959-62) and finance minister (1962-66) in Charles de Gaulle 's government. He held the latter post again in 1969 under President Georges Pompidou , supporting European economic integration and closer ties with the United States. Leader of the Independent Republicans, a conservative group allied with the Gaullists, he ran for president after Pompidou's death in 1974, defeating Socialist François... Read more