M. Chirac had failed in his 1981 challenge to his former ally, then-President

Valery Giscard d'Estaing, but, even so, as the wildly popular mayor of Paris and the head of the Gaullist party, he was one of the most prominent figures in French political life. On this show, he apologizes for his imperfect English, but his common sense comes through with Gallic clarity: "We cannot criticize the Americans' economic policies, and also ask them to help us in defense; that is a contradiction." "Our effort is to explain to the French people that the Socialist and Communist system is politically dangerous to freedom and economically failed, and that we do have a liberal system which could improve very much the economic and social situation."