Sarko The American
Lesley Stahl Interviews France's New Leader
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Play CBS Video Video Sarko L'Americain "Sarko the American" is what the French are calling their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been siding with the U.S. on policy. Lesley Stahl profiles the energetic, sometimes volatile leader.
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Video 'Sarko The American' Walks Out "Sarko the American" is what the French are calling their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been siding with the U.S. on policy. Lesley Stahl profiles the energetic and sometimes volatile leader, as you will see in this clip.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy, center. (CBS)
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French President Sarkozy leaves his interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes when she asks him about his wife, Cecilia, with whom he was going through a divorce at the time. The interview, conducted at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Oct. 5, was broadcast Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, on CBS. (CBS)
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With his poll numbers still relatively high, Sarkozy's one big problem was his wife, and that his private life had become a public soap opera.
He had brought Cecilia into his career. When he was interior minister, she had an office next to his, controlling his schedule and his diet.
But they had a tempestuous relationship: two years ago she left him for another man. They were photographed together in New York. But Sarkozy talked her into coming back to him.
After the election, he sent her on a diplomatic mission to Libya, where she helped negotiate the release of five Bulgarian nurses charged with murder. But when the Bulgarians gave the Sarkozys a medal of honor in early October, Cecilia was a no show. The day 60 Minutes interviewed him, Paris was buzzing with rumors that she had left him, again. But ask him about it? How dare you!
"Since we’ve been here, it seems that every day we’re hearing another story about your wife. What’s going on?" Stahl asked.
"If I had to say something about Cecilia, I would certainly not do so here," the president replied.
"But there’s a great mystery. Everybody’s asking. Even your press secretary was asked at the briefing today," Stahl remarked.
"Well he was quite right to make no comment. And no comment. Merci," Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy decided the interview was over. "Bon courage," he said.
And off he went, with the question about his wife left hanging. Two weeks later, the presidential palace announced the Sarkozys were divorced, just like that. It's a first for a French president.
Since then, there's been no evidence that the end of Cecilia is affecting his passion and drive in his job. As it was growing up, every day for Sarkozy is still a battle. Ask him a question and you could get a fight, as Stahl did when she asked why he’s on French television all the time.
"The question is: over-exposure?" Stahl
"And you, you: Why did you insist so much that I appear on television? Would 60 Minutes be after me if I was of no interest? There’s no problem," the president replied.
"Touché, touché," Stahl conceded.
Produced By Harry Radliffe and Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson
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