Sarko The American

When Nicolas Sarkozy, France's new president, visits the White House next week it'll symbolize how much French-American relations have improved since the war in Iraq. Like most of the French, Sarkozy opposes the war, but he's a fan of almost everything else American: from Hollywood movies to the American work ethic. On issue after issue -- from Iran to Israel to the war on terror -- he sides with U.S. policy. He is so pro-U.S., the French call him "Sarko the American."

The son of an immigrant from Hungary, Sarkozy is a real departure from past French presidents: he's prone to flashes of quick temper, and as of last week, he's divorced. As correspondent Lesley Stahl found out, he's young, high energy, and thoroughly intriguing.

Sarkozy showed off his family, happy with comparisons to the Kennedys: his glamorous wife Cecilia, a former model, her two daughters, his two sons from previous marriages, and their own 10-year-old, Louis. Sarkozy's affection for his wife was evident.

The five months since then have been a whirlwind of made-for-TV appearances: fiery speeches, a drop-in at a mosque, and meetings with a parade of world leaders. Sarkozy is so omnipresent, his countrymen have started calling him "super Sarko," the "energizer president." His style is something the French aren't used to: plunging into crowds and glad-handing.

When Stahl first met him for a quick, impromptu conversation on his presidential airplane, he was in a playful mood, grabbing her notes.

"Égalité," he joked.

Which he said would put himself and Stahl on an equal footing. But he refused to wear a microphone, which made the audio difficult.

"They call you 'Sarko the American.' Why?" Stahl asked.

"'Cause I love America. I want to be friend of America," the president replied.

"But the name?" she asked.

"I am proud of this nickname. J'aime musique Américaine," Sarkozy explained, saying he likes U.S. music.

"Elvis Presley of course," he said.

"This story will introduce you to the American people. What do you most want them to know about you?" Stahl asked.

"I want the Americans to know that they can count on us," Sarkozy explained. "But, at the same time, we want to be free to disagree."

U.S.-French relations have been sour for decades, but in 2003 disagreement over the war in Iraq plunged them to a new low when then-President Jacques Chirac openly opposed the Bush administration. In the U.S., all things French were denigrated: their cars were smashed, their wine was dumped and their fries renamed "Freedom Fries."

"It became very heated, unpleasant at times," remembers Jean David Lévitte, France's ambassador to Washington at the time.

Now Sarkozy's national security adviser, Lévitte told 60 Minutes improving U.S. relations is a top Sarkozy priority.

"He even mentioned it in his acceptance speech the night he was elected president. Why did he go that far as to mention how much he likes America on that occasion?" Stahl asked.

"Well, because he thinks it's important. He thinks that in his campaign he had to say to the French people, 'Beware, if you elect me, I will implement this program.' And part of the program is to rebuild strong, good, friendly relations with the U.S. And I think he's succeeding magnificently," Lévitte explained.

To underscore his message, Sarkozy went so far as to spend his first vacation as president of France on a lake in New Hampshire with his family. The Bushes, nearby in Kennebunkport, invited them over for hot dogs, hamburgers and a little Franco-American bonding. But Sarkozy's personal life and his own temperament began to intrude. His wife Cecilia created an embarrassing situation when she snubbed the Bushes by pulling out of the event at the last minute.

Back in New Hampshire, Sarkozy had lost his temper at a photographer who had followed him out onto the lake. It turns out France's new president has a habit of letting his anger loose, as Stahl found out as the 60 Minutes team was setting up for an interview at the Élysée Palace. He started berating his press secretary, calling him "an imbecile" and worse, for arranging an interview he clearly didn't want to do on a busy day.

"No. No. This is stupid. He is stupid. It is a big mistake," Sarkozy remarked.

"But Sir, this is what the public, the American people are gonna see," Stahl commented.

"Okay…I don't have the time. I have a big job to do, I have a schedule," he said through a translator. "Very busy. Very busy," he added in English.

After that exchange, the interview got underway.

"You have said 'I have always had to fight throughout my life. Nothing ever came easily for me. Nobody ever opened any doors. I got used that.' Now, was that the key to Monsieur Sarkozy?" Stahl asked.

"That's not the key just for me. It's the key for anybody's life. You only get what you're prepared to struggle for. I was from this middle-class family. I had no connections, nobody in my family had ever been in politics. I didn't simply become head of state by chance. I became it because I wanted to, and I paid the price for it," Sarkozy replied.

"You have told the story of your father telling you that because you didn't have a French name, that you were never going to make it in France. You had to go to the United States to become successful," Stahl remarked.

"Well, he was proven wrong," Sarkozy said. "That's what he thought. That a name like Sarkozy was a handicap. That's the reason why I like the United States. You can have a name like Schwarzenegger and be governor of California. You can be called Madeleine Albright and be secretary of state. You can be called Colin Powell or Condi Rice, and succeed. That's what a free country is, that's a democratic country. It's a country that gives a chance to each and every one of its children."

Determined to prove his Hungarian father wrong, Sarkozy went into politics. Even at 23, he was delivering passionate speeches against socialist policies.

Five years later, he was the mayor of a wealthy Paris suburb.

He became a national figure in 1993, when he walked into a school where a suicide bomber was holding children hostage. He talked the man into releasing them, one at a time, and carried some of them out himself. The incident established Sarkozy's reputation for courage and risk-taking.

As interior minister in 2005, he was in charge of the police during three weeks of rioting in immigrant neighborhoods all around the country. It was the worst unrest France had seen in decades. It's interesting that as the son of a foreigner Sarkozy carried out a tough law-and-order campaign against immigrants. His controversial vow to get rid of the quote "scum" may have helped him politically in his campaign for president. He ran on a platform of restoring order and reforming the country's expensive cradle-to-grave welfare system. And promote a new work ethic.

Sarkozy says France "unfortunately" has a 35-hour work weeks, something he is trying to expand. "We are going to change things. We are going to change France. We are going to modernize France," he says.

He pumps up his coalition in the parliament by saying, "encouraging work is our priority." He says, "It is because France is not working hard enough that our society is in bad shape."

It's a message Sarkozy takes on the road several times a week, with trips like a recent one to Dijon. At a factory, he preached his gospel of "work more, earn more," and also listened to people tell him their problems.

At the end of his visit, he worked the crowds, revving up support for undoing the law that forbids anyone in France from working more than 35 hours a week.

"If you want to live holding your head high, you have to live from what you earn and not off public assistance," Sarkozy told Stahl on his plane.

"People have tried to reform in the past. They've (also) had strikes. Why do you think you can overcome this when people haven't been able to in the past?" Stahl asked.

"I am not afraid," Sarkozy said.

"But what if the strikes paralyze the city? Or paralyze the country?" Stahl asked.

"If there are strikes, I will tell the French people 'Look, it's up to you. Do we stop or do we go on?' I say we go on," he said.

Well, the transportation unions did strike last week after Sarkozy said he was going to cut their retirement benefits. They shut down the trains and subways, but commuters managed without a lot of anger at Sarkozy, a sign the public supports his reforms.

With his poll numbers still relatively high, Sarkozy's one big problem was his wife, and that his private life had become a public soap opera.
He had brought Cecilia into his career. When he was interior minister, she had an office next to his, controlling his schedule and his diet.

But they had a tempestuous relationship: two years ago she left him for another man. They were photographed together in New York. But Sarkozy talked her into coming back to him.

After the election, he sent her on a diplomatic mission to Libya, where she helped negotiate the release of five Bulgarian nurses charged with murder. But when the Bulgarians gave the Sarkozys a medal of honor in early October, Cecilia was a no show. The day 60 Minutes interviewed him, Paris was buzzing with rumors that she had left him, again. But ask him about it? How dare you!

"Since we've been here, it seems that every day we're hearing another story about your wife. What's going on?" Stahl asked.

"If I had to say something about Cecilia, I would certainly not do so here," the president replied.

"But there's a great mystery. Everybody's asking. Even your press secretary was asked at the briefing today," Stahl remarked.

"Well he was quite right to make no comment. And no comment. Merci," Sarkozy said.

Sarkozy decided the interview was over. "Bon courage," he said.

And off he went, with the question about his wife left hanging. Two weeks later, the presidential palace announced the Sarkozys were divorced, just like that. It's a first for a French president.

Since then, there's been no evidence that the end of Cecilia is affecting his passion and drive in his job. As it was growing up, every day for Sarkozy is still a battle. Ask him a question and you could get a fight, as Stahl did when she asked why he's on French television all the time.

"The question is: over-exposure?" Stahl

"And you, you: Why did you insist so much that I appear on television? Would 60 Minutes be after me if I was of no interest? There's no problem," the president replied.

"Touché, touché," Stahl conceded.

Produced By Harry Radliffe and Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson