Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Presidential exploits

On Feb. 2, French President Nicolas Sarkozy tied the knot. Other than the fact that he is a 53-year-old with two failed marriages under his belt, this particular marriage is causing quite a bit of stir, because the woman on the other half of it is a 40-year-old singer and former model, Carla Bruni.

Now, transfer this situation into an American context. At first glance, it would seem like something of this nature would be outrageously scandalized here. But after all, in this election process there was Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times, though he too faced a certain amount of scrutiny.

And unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know the story of Bill Clinton’s tryst with intern, Monica Lewinsky. Not to mention that Ronald Reagan is the only president the United States has had that has been divorced.

To go back further, Andrew Jackson killed a man in a dual for slanders against Jackson’s wife. And Thomas Jefferson’s past is highly debated among historians on whether or not he had children by his slave, Sally Hemmings. Now that may seem out of context, but are they really? From what is known about both time periods those were both widely accepted, though morally debatable practices.

Not to degrade the marriages of our presidents, but is the message here that society is more accepting of a silently unhappy marriage than an ended marriage resulting in two presumably content single people? Is America any more trusting of a philandering president than of a twice divorced, thrice married president?

Is it a matter of what is socially acceptable, or what is socially comfortable? Today, in most modern societies, it is acceptable to be a divorcee. On the flip side of that however, Sarkozy (and Giuliani) would be the extremes.

The more I think about it, the less realistic it seems that the United States would be OK with a president with a similar marital history. That is, of course, until the daintier details of Sarkozy’s track record are examined. Sarkozy sounds like he has been living in a real-life soap opera.

In 1982, Sarkozy married his first wife, Marie Dominique Culioli and they had two sons. Maybe the romance was doomed from the start – after all the witness was Charles Pasqua who would be a future political adversary. The divorce was made final in 1996.

In the same year that he divorced Culioli, he married model turned public relations administrator, Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz. Sarkozy was the officiator of the wedding of her first marriage, which ended a year later in 1988 to start their affair. They had one son together, and were a public couple until 2005, when each had their side affairs publicized. His was with a journalist and hers with an events organizer. They made their separation final in October 2007 with a divorce.

Are you still with me? Good. Now enter Carla Bruni. Just two months after the second divorce, Sarkozy was seen out and about on holiday with the Italian ex-model now singer. Allegedly they met after the divorce in November, but Sarkozy really doesn’t have much in his past going for him on the credibility of that claim.

Bruni, though, is quite the match for Sarkozy when it comes to their pasts. Her exes include Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Kevin Costner. Bruni also has a son from a previous relationship with a French philosopher. You really can’t make this stuff up.

I was thinking that having a president with the same personal record in the United States as Sarkozy wouldn’t shake things up much and that it would have its 15 minutes and then we would be back to Britney’s rehab.

But Sarkozy’s national approval has been plummeting in the past months because of his publicized relationship with Bruni. France is accustomed to having presidents keep their love lives behind the scenes, and many are simply annoyed with the amount of media attention that the president’s personal is getting.

Is the message to be learned from Sarkozy that society should revert to the days of silent acceptance? That, of course, is not going to happen. He has a bad track record, I’ll admit it. But in the current presidential race we’re in, ceilings are being broken left and, well, left.

The questions seen everywhere are about whether we can we have a woman president or a black president. Are we ready? Similarly, would we elect an atheist? And then there is the question of whether or not a president should be judged solely by political objectives, or if private lives should be considered. Unfortunately, only time will reveal the ultimate answers, until then, let the speculation continue.

Hannah Nelson is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected]

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Massachusetts Daily Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *