Prise de la Bastille, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel, depicts the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a key event in the French Revolution.
François Hollande, newly elected Socialist President of France
Charles De Gaulle was President of France from 1959 to 1969.
Artwork by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier depicting 1789's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France from 2007 to 2012, who earned derision and the nickname "bling-bling president" for his excesses.
Marine Le Pen, candidate of the ultra-nationalist and populist National Front party in the 2012 presidential election.
François Hollande and Ségolène Royal at a political rally held by the Socialist Party for the 2007 parliamentary elections.
Socialists celebrate victory in Bastille Square after the 2012 election.
French ballot box used in the 2012 election
Citizens protest the election of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007.
François Mitterrand served as President of France from 1981 to 1995.
Jacques Chirac served as President of France from 1995 to 2007.
Campaign posters line the street promoting candidates for the 2012 election.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing served as President of France from 1974 to 1981.
Logo of the Union for a Popular Movement, the party of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Logo of the Socialist Party in France
Official government logo of the French Republic
Léon Blum, the first Socialist leader of France, served as prime minister from 1936 to 1937.
Scandal claimed the political career of the Socialist Party's Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The Élysée Palace, official residence of the President of France
