France–United States relations between France and the United States became friendlier after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France in 2007. Sarkozy, who has been called "Sarko the American", has said that he "love[s] America" and that he is "proud of his nickname". In 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech before the U.S. Congress that was seen as a strong affirmation of French–American ties; during the visit, he also met with President George W. Bush as well as senators John McCain and Barack Obama (before they were chosen as presidential candidates). Obama and McCain also met with Sarkozy in Paris after securing their respective
President of France of Ministers acted as President whenever office was vacant. According to article 7 of the Constitution, if the presidency becomes vacant for any reason, or if the president becomes incapacitated, upon the request of the "gouvernement", the Constitutional Council may rule, by a majority vote, that the presidency is to be temporarily assumed by the President of the Senate. If the Council rules that the incapacity is permanent, the same procedure as for the resignation is applied, as described above. If the President cannot attend meetings, including meetings of the Council of Ministers, he can ask the Prime Minister to