Elected in president in 1974, the centrist leader known to most French people simply as Giscard or VGE quickly ushered through a spree of radical reforms.
With a more relaxed presidential style than his predecessors Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, he was sometimes seen in public playing soccer and the accordion.
An economic liberal, he was also more outward-looking than his predecessors, being an ardent pro-European and champion of increased integration.
