Ronald Tiersky

François Mitterrand, struggling against a life-threatening cancer to finish his presidency, has proven to be France's most important leader since Carles de Gaulle. His accomplishments -- helping mold the European Union, boosting the legitimacy of France's domestic institutions, crafting Paris' response to the Cold War, and redefining the French left -- are historic. As a result, Mitterrand's successors can face the post-Cold War era with considerable confidence.