When Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right National Front (FN) candidate, came in second place in the first round of France's presidential election in 2002, earning a coveted spot to the runoff against then President Jacques Chirac, he was met with outright rejection. His shocking advance, the first time a member of the far right had advanced that far in a French election since World War II, prompted French voters on the left and right to rally in Chirac's favor, handing him an unprecedented 82 percent of votes in the runoff, and sending a defiant “non” to Le Pen and the vision for France his party represented.
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