Alain Richard

{{about|the politician|the Swiss ski mountaineer|Alain Richard (ski mountaineer)|the monk|Alain Richard (monk)}}

{{Infobox Politician

| name = Alain Richard

| image = Alain Richard (46824286014) (cropped).jpg

| caption = Richard in 2018

| office1 = Senator for Val-d'Oise

| term_start1 = 1 October 2011

| term_end1 = 2 October 2023

| term_start2 = 2 October 1995

| term_end2 = 4 July 1997

| office = Minister of Defence

| president =

| primeminister = Lionel Jospin

| term_start = 3 June 1997

| term_end = 7 May 2002

| predecessor = Charles Millon

| successor = Michèle Alliot-Marie

| office3 = Member of the National Assembly
for Val-d'Oise

| term_start3 = 3 April 1978

| term_end3 = 1 April 1993

| predecessor3 = Michel Poniatowski

| successor3 = Christian Gourmelen

| constituency3 = 1st (1978–1986)
At-large (1986–1988)
2nd (1988–1997)

| office4 = Mayor of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône

| term_start4 = 19 December 2002

| term_end4 = 19 October 2017

| predecessor4 = Andrée Salgues

| successor4 = Laurent Linquette

| term_start5 = 20 March 1977

| term_end5 = 4 July 1997

| predecessor5 = Armand Lecomte

| successor5 = Jean-Louis Linquette

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|08|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Paris, France

| education = Lycée Henri-IV

| alma_mater = Sciences Po
École nationale d'administration

| party = Unified Socialist Party {{nowrap|(1962–1974)}}
Socialist Party {{nowrap|(1974–2017)}}
Renaissance {{nowrap|(2017–present)}}

}}

Alain Richard ({{IPA|fr|alɛ̃ ʁiʃaʁ|lang}}; born 29 August 1945) is a French politician who served as Minister of Defence from 1997 to 2002. A former member of the Socialist Party (PS), he joined La République En Marche! (LREM, later renamed Renaissance, RE) in 2017.

A member of the National Assembly for Val-d'Oise from 1978 to 1993, Richard was elected to the Senate in 1995 before he was appointed as Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. He returned to the Senate in 2011, holding a seat until 2023.

Early life and education

Richard received his Baccalauréat at the Lycée Henri-IV. He is an alumnus of Sciences Po and the École nationale d'administration (ÉNA).

Political career

=Early career=

Richard was first elected as Mayor of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône in 1977. In 1981, he was selected to be one of the first young leaders of the French-American Foundation.{{cite web|url=http://www.frenchamerican.org/young-leaders|title=Young Leaders|publisher=French-American Foundation|access-date=28 October 2015}}

A member of the Socialist Party (PS), Richard was elected to the National Assembly in the 1978 election. During his time in Parliament, he focused on the national budget.Joseph Fitchett (18 June 1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/18/IHT-waste-threatens-french-arms-projects-audit-says.html Waste Threatens French Arms' Projects, Audit Says] International Herald Tribune.

=Minister of Defence, 1997–2002=

Elected to the Senate in the 1995 election, Richard was appointed Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin two years later by President Jacques Chirac.Craig R. Whitney (5 June 1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/05/world/new-cabinet-is-announced-in-france.html New Cabinet Is Announced In France] The New York Times. During his time in office, he was in charge of implementing a plan that Chirac set in motion in 1996 to reduce the French Armed Forces' establishment across Africa to 350,000 uniformed personnel, from 500,000, by 2002.Craig R. Whitney (25 July 1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/25/world/france-snips-at-the-old-ties-that-bind-it-to-africa.html France Snips at the Old Ties That Bind It to Africa] The New York Times. Notably, he closed a key military base in the north of the Central African Republic and reduced forces at a second, in Bangui, in 1997.[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/01/world/france-confirms-pullout.html France Confirms Pullout] The New York Times, 1 August 1997. Also under his leadership, the government completed the destruction of its stock of land mines in accordance with the 1997 Ottawa Convention.[https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/21/world/france-scraps-land-mines.html France Scraps Land Mines] The New York Times, 21 December 1999.

Richard also oversaw the transition resulting from France's 1996 decision to suspend peacetime military conscription and move to an all-volunteer professional army; President Chirac formally announced the end of compulsory military service{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/conscription-drummed-out-as-france-gets-professional-1349677.html |title=Conscription drummed out as France gets professional |first=Ian Phillips |last=Paris |date=28 May 1996 |work=The Independent}} in 2001.

Dismissing doubts about France's support for NATO in Kosovo after French officer Pierre-Henri Bunel was charged with passing bombing plans to Serbia, Richard and Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine offered in 1998 to lead the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).Craig R. Whitney (6 November 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/06/world/france-offers-to-lead-force-sent-to-kosovo-with-monitors.html France Offers To Lead Force Sent to Kosovo With Monitors] The New York Times.

In January 2001, Richard made a submission about the Mitterrand–Pasqua affair – a controversial arms-trafficking case against Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, son of François Mitterrand – several weeks after magistrates had started criminal proceedings about the deal handled by Pierre Falcone's Paris-based company, Brenco International.Joseph Fitchett (28 June 2001), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/18/IHT-waste-threatens-french-arms-projects-audit-says.html Court Dismisses Arms-Trafficking Case Against Mitterrand Son] International Herald Tribune.

Seen as an ally of Jospin, Richard left office when Jean-Pierre Raffarin became Prime Minister following the 2002 election.{{cite web|url=https://www.humanite.fr/1997-06-05_Articles_-Alain-Richard-ministre-de-la-Defense-Cinquante-deux-a |title=Alain Richard : ministre de la Défense |language=fr |work=L'Humanité |location=France |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514113502/http://www.humanite.fr/1997-06-05_Articles_-Alain-Richard-ministre-de-la-Defense-Cinquante-deux-a |archive-date=14 May 2010 }}

=Return to the Senate, 2011–2023=

Richard went back to his initial position as Mayor of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, before regaining a seat in the Senate in the 2011 election. In the Socialist Party's 2011 primaries, he endorsed Martine Aubry as the party's candidate for the 2012 presidential election.[https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/primaire-ps-39-senateurs-ps-apportent-leur-soutien-a-aubry-13-10-2011-1384191_20.php Primaire PS: 39 sénateurs PS apportent leur soutien à Aubry] Le Point {{in lang|fr}}, 13 October 2011.

In the Senate, Richard held one of its vice presidencies from 2022 to 2023, under the leadership of its president Gérard Larcher. He was a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs.[https://www.senat.fr/senateur/richard_alain95063l.html Alain Richard], Senate of France. In addition to his committee assignments, Richard chaired the Senate's Taiwan friendship group. In this capacity, he visited Taiwan in 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2023, including meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen.Ben Blanchard (7 October 2021), [https://www.reuters.com/world/china/taiwan-will-ensure-regional-peace-president-tells-french-senators-2021-10-07/ Taiwan will ensure regional peace, president tells French senators] Reuters.

Richard was reelected to a second full term in the Senate in 2017, this time as a member of the liberal La République En Marche! (LREM), the party founded by Emmanuel Macron in 2016. He ran again for reelection in 2023 but was defeated by two votes. As of his departure from the Senate, he remains a municipal councillor of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône.[https://www.leparisien.fr/val-d-oise-95/elections-senatoriales-dans-le-val-doise-alain-richard-battu-a-78-ans-la-fin-dune-ere-politique-26-09-2023-HNV2AS52UZCJBKISVFELTSFYPE.php Élections sénatoriales dans le Val-d’Oise : Alain Richard battu à 78 ans, la fin d’une ère politique] Le Parisien {{in lang|fr}}, 26 September 2023.

Honours

{{ROC}} Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon (2021){{cite news |last1=Yeh |first1=Su-ping |last2=Chiang |first2=Yi-ching |title=President Tsai confers medal on visiting French Senator Alain Richard |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202110070010 |access-date=7 October 2021 |agency=Central News Agency |date=7 October 2021}} Republished as: {{cite news |title=French senator awarded for building friendship ties |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/10/08/2003765743 |access-date=8 October 2021 |work=Taipei Times |date=8 October 2021}}