Private life of presidents

Whenever a new scandal in politics was reported in the newspaper our grandmother used to ask “How come politicians have time for these things?”.  Obviously some politicians can manage their time very well. However, there is a big difference in the public perception between USA and Europe. In Europe nobody expects politicians to be “saints” – it’s obviously not true! When the French president Nicolas Sarkozy married Carla Bruni after a divorce nobody was really upset in France. Even after old very open photos of Carla were sold in the internet 74% of the French people were satisfied with her role as the wife of the president although only 46 % were satisfied with the performance of their husband – this is a record low for a French president in his first year after election.  However, the French people are probably right – a president should be measured against the outcome of his work and not against his private life record. A perfect private life record is not a guarantee for good work as president which many Americans still assume.  However, the contrary is also true as Nicolas Sarkozy demonstrates!