Valery Marie Rene Georges Giscard born 2 February 1926), also known as Giscard or VGE, is a former French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. As Minister of Finance under prime ministers Jacques Chaban-Delmas and Pierre Messmer, he won the presidential election of 1974 with 50.8% of the vote against François Mitterrand of the Socialist Party.