Remarks

The Miseducation of Emmanuel Macron

Stunned by December’s vehement protests, France’s president takes refuge in the past.

Macron before a special address to the nation on Dec. 10.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/Prensa Internacional/Zuma Press

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By Helene Fouquet and Ben Sills

December 20, 2018 at 5:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the December 24, 2018 issue of businessweek.

Emmanuel Macron appears to be growing up in public.

Eleven days before his 41st birthday, France’s president—looking uncharacteristically haggard—made a humbling televised apology to the nation as he tried to appease the protesters who’ve dented the country’s economic growth and are threatening to shut down his reform agenda. “I could have made you think I didn’t share your concerns, that my priorities were elsewhere,” said Macron, who’d developed a reputation for imperiousness since he took office in May 2017. “I might have said words that wounded.”