He loves Rolex watches and chocolate. Unlike predecessors such as the late François Mitterrand, who wrote some 20 books, Sarkozy is a fan of trashy television and raves about, believe it or not, the movie Silence of the Lambs.
He never thinks about the past, claiming he’s a stranger to it (very Albert Camus). “The only thing that interests me is this afternoon, tomorrow,” he says.
Sarkozy is clearly ambitious—in his first 100 days in office, he engaged in more activity than Jacques Chirac did in his last five years. He always seems to be moving, with trips throughout Europe and to America, vacationing in New Hampshire and lunching with President Bush and his father in Kennebunkport. He talks of grand ideas, declaring recently that the French “want a president who acts and gets results.”
And so far the French love it—his approval rating is above 60 percent. Clearly something is working: When was the last time the world was so fascinated by a French president?
Bravo to Mr. Sarkozy. Some of our presidential candidates could take lessons from him. He’s no pompous world leader, always pontificating about nothing. In the end, he also recognizes the truly important things in life. In a rare bit of introspection, he tells Reza: “Love is the only thing that counts.”
