Nearly one year ago, French President Emmanuel Macron made one of the most pivotal decisions since coming to power in 2017. His call for snap elections to the National Assembly, regarded by many as a desperate throw of the dice, followed the June 2024 European Parliament elections, in which Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) achieved a hitherto unknown level of support.
Macron’s gamble paid off, at least in the sense of halting the RN’s immediate momentum. For many, however, it also marked a fatal weakening of his presidency.
How did Macron’s standing with the French fall so far, and so fast?
After all, in 2017, he was hailed as a political wunderkind: young, brilliant, and refreshingly untainted by partisan baggage. The Economist declared him the “hopes of France, Europe, and centrists everywhere,” while the Financial Times praised his de Gaulle-like ambition.
Macron seemed like the reformist technocrat who could unite a fractured country, outflank extremists on both sides, and revitalize France’s long-stagnant economy. He was, in short, the man who could do it all – and with flair.
The contrast between Macron’s early promise and his current image seems almost theatrical.
As the British historian Julian Jackson recently observed in The Times, “the Fifth Republic is teetering,” with Macron’s approval ratings now at 26%, fast approaching the darkest days of his predecessor, François Hollande.
Despite Macron’s much-praised financial wizardry, the French economy is grappling with a budget deficit equivalent to 5.8% of GDP, a debt-to-GDP ratio of 113%, and a youth unemployment rate hovering stubbornly around 20%. Growth remains sluggish, and France’s fiscal credibility hangs by a thread.
Politically, the center has been hollowed out, while the RN now dominates the electoral map, capturing 31.4% of the vote in the European Parliament elections and 33% in the first round of last year’s legislative elections.
As Macron nears the end of his time at the Élysée, the Republic he vowed to revitalize appears more paralyzed than ever, drifting into uncertainty with the misplaced confidence of a ship captain who insists, to the very end, that he is still on the right course.
But all that looms on the horizon is a question: How did such a promising presidency go so profoundly astray?
Closing doors and building walls
In his recent, sharply critical book Le Président Toxique (The Toxic President), journalist Etienne Campion offers an unflinching…
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