Admired and scorned during 12 years as president of France, Jacques Chirac, leaves a legacy as mixed and ambiguous as the man himself.The French leader was widely expected to announce in a televised address on Sunday night that he will not seek a third term in presidential elections in six weeks. For Chirac, it would be an acknowledgment that low popularity, age (he is 74) and Nicolas Sarkozy, his conservative colleague-cum-rival as hugely ambitious as Chirac once was, have finally overtaken him.Most on the French right, Chirac once dominated, and in the party founded for his re-election in 2002, have swung behind Sarkozy before the April-May two-round presidential vote, leaving Chirac with no political base for another run.But Chirac has pulled surprises in the past and he has kept France guessing as long as possible about whether he will run again — seemingly to avoid becoming a lame duck too soon.On France, Chirac made less of a mark than General Charles de Gaulle, his role model, or his immediate predecessor, Socialist Francois Mitterrand. Internationally, the repercussions of Chirac’s defiant “Non!” to war on Iraq, which forced President Bush to invade in 2003 without The UN backing, still echo.So, too, does another “Non!” of the Chirac era — that of French voters who rejected Europe’s drive toward greater integration in 2005. Some accused the French leader of derailing European ambitions, since it was he who put the issue to a referendum. For many, it is among the biggest blemishes on the record of a statesman who occasionally seemed to be more concerned about problems abroad than at home.Chirac’s acknowledgment of the French state’s guilt in the Nazi extermination of Jews in World War II was historic. But economically, few French say they are better off than they were in 1995, when crowds splashed in Paris fountains to celebrate Chirac’s surprise election win.Today, many are eager to see him go. After four decades in politics, Chirac had become uninspiring scenery — present but barely noticed.Without Chirac, France will almost certainly get its first leader born after World War II — most likely Sarkozy, 52, Socialist Segolene Royal or even long-shot centrist Francois Bayrou.
