President of France to. He was succeeded by Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 May 2007. Following a further change, the constitutional law on the modernisation of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, 2008, a President cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac are the only Presidents to date who have served a full two terms (14 years for the former, 12 years for the latter). In order to be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations (informally known as "parrainages", for "sponsors") from more than 500 elected officials, mostly mayors. These officials must be from
President of France proto-canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. The current President of France is Emmanuel Macron, who succeeded François Hollande on 14 May 2017. The presidency of France was first publicly proposed during the July Revolution of 1830, when it was offered to the Marquis de Lafayette, who demurred in favor of Prince Louis Phillipe. 18 years later, during the opening phases of the 2nd Republic, the title was created for a popularly elected Head of state, the first of whom was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the Emperor. Bonaparte served until he staged an auto coup against the