1953-09-03 French minister François Mitterrand, resigns due to colonial policy
1965-09-09 François Mitterrand nominated for French presidency
1965-12-19 French President De Gaulle re-elected (Mitterrand gets 45%)
1981-05-10 François Mitterrand defeats Valery Giscard d'Estang for Presidency of France
1981-05-21 François Mitterrand becomes president of France
1985-12-04 French President François Mitterrand receives Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski
1988-05-08 François Mitterrand elected President of France
1989-03-04 The Louvre Pyramid designed by I. M. Pei is inaugurated by French President François Mitterrand in Paris
1990-09-24 Iraq invades the French and Dutch missions in Kuwait; French President François Mitterrand calls the action a violation of international law; US warship boards an Iraqi-flagged tanker bound for the port of Basrah
1990-11-21 French President François Mitterrand voices support for a proposed UN resolution that would authorize the use of force in the Persian Gulf