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Claim Sarkozy used short people as props hits Web

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-09 13:53

Height has been an issue for many leaders over the years, from the famously short -- Napoleon is said to have been 5 feet 2 inches (158 centimeters) tall -- to the towering.

Charles de Gaulle had to struggle to find a bed that would fit his 6-foot-5-inch (196-centimeter) frame when he was on the road, and Francois Mitterrand had a complex about looking small next to the 6-foot-4-inch (193-centimeter) German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, according to Jean-Pierre Friedman, the author of books on Sarkozy and the psychology of leaders.

Questions have swirled about the exact heights of Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, and whether they try to appear taller than they are. Web chats dedicated to guessing their size compare them to other not-so-tall leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's leader Kim Jong Il and Italy's Silvio Berlusconi.

Stage-managing presidential appearances is nothing new, and Sarkozy and his aides are known to skillfully craft his image. Photographers have caught him standing on boxes behind podiums or standing on his tiptoes -- such as during a photo op with his wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni, and Barack and Michelle Obama in Strasbourg in April.

While Bruni told French television last year she's just shy of 5 feet 8 inches (173 centimeters), other reports have put her at 5 feet 9 inches (175 centimeters) , and she is often photographed wearing flats in appearances with her husband.

Claim Sarkozy used short people as props hits Web

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) arrives with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to attend D-Day celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of the allied landings in France, in Colleville-sur-Mer June 6, 2009. [Agencies]

Friedman said Sarkozy "has had a complex with his height that has given him a sense of inferiority ... so he has had to prove himself."

"Take a look at the way he walks, it's very particular," he said. "It almost seems as though he has lifts in his shoes that seem to disrupt his balance."

Sarkozy's political rivals pounced on the Faurecia appearance while his supporters rushed to his defense.

"When the French president goes on official visits throughout France, the only thing that is actually directed by the Elysee is his security," said Frederic Lefebvre, a spokesman for Sarkozy's conservative party.

Socialist party spokesman Benoit Hamon called the alleged stage management "shocking," telling AP Television News it amounted to "the politics of spectacle."

On the streets of Paris, the controversy drew a few shrugs.

"Frankly, for me, it is a little ridiculous, yes, absolutely," said Paris resident David Charley as he walked near Paris' Champs-Elysees. "If he (Sarkozy) wants to play with his image, it's allowed."