Jospin: End of politicial career

Jospin waves to supporters after announcing his resignation from politics

PARIS, France (CNN) -- The rise of far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in France's first-round presidential vote brought an end to the two-decade national political career of Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Jospin announced he was retiring from politics after he failed to gain enough votes to enter the second-round vote for president.

Instead, Le Pen faced incumbent Jacques Chirac in the May 5 runoff, in which Chirac was re-elected by a landslide.

Jospin, a 64-year-old former professor who has been France's prime minister since 1997, said the first-round results were "like a thunderbolt ... particularly worrying for France and for our democracy."

RESOURCES Profile: Lionel Jospin    CNN NewsPass VIDEO Far-right candidate Jean Le Pen shocked many in France after he defeated Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the first round of presidential elections. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports (April 22) Play video CNN's Hala Gorani reports on protests in France that broke out soon after far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen secured a spot in the presidential runoff against incumbent Jacques Chirac (April 22) Play video CNN's Jim Bittermann has a look at how politicians on the far left and those on the far right of the political spectrum are gaining popularity in France. (April 20) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION In-depth: France Decides 2002    MORE STORIES • French press reaction: 'Earthquake'  • Voters urged to shun Le Pen  • On the scene: Shock, disbelief  • French poll result alarms Europe

As he promised, Jospin resigned as prime minister after the runoff. But he has urged leftist parties to regroup for parliamentary elections "so as to prepare for the reconstruction of the future."

"I fully take responsibility for this failure," Jospin said after the April 21 first-round vote, encouraging his followers to support Socialist candidates in the June legislative elections.

During first-round campaigning, voters were expected to put Jospin in a runoff with Chirac. But there were questions among the French whether Jospin was a bit too buttoned-up to be president.

"Lionel Jospin is somebody who is very strict, serious, honest. But at the same time, he has a tendency to judge everybody, which can be unpleasant," says Jospin biographer Sylvie Maligorne.

"The French are people who are not very obedient, they don't like rules too much, and somebody who puts discipline forward as a personal principle is annoying. And that is his weakness."

Life in government

Born in Paris on July 12, 1937, Jospin entered national politics in 1981, when he was elected to the National Assembly.

He had prepared for a life in government, graduating in 1965 from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, France's elite government service school.

He then served in the French Foreign Ministry before becoming professor of economics at Paris XI University in 1970 -- a post he held for 11 years.

In 1981, he was appointed first secretary of the Socialist party by Francois Mitterand, occupying that position until 1988, when became minister of education, youth and sport.

He lost the ministerial post and his National Assembly seat in 1992, then ran for president in 1995, losing to Chirac.

There was no doubting Jospin's desire for the presidency this year -- or his eagerness for revenge on Chirac. Going into the election, Jospin knew that the loser's political career could well be over.

After his 1995 loss, Jospin became leader of the Socialist Party, then was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1997.

Following the collapse of Alain Juppe's conservative coalition, Jospin became prime minister that year, entering what would be five years of "cohabitation" with the conservative Chirac.

The result of that awkward arrangement? Chirac got the glory, while Jospin got the kicks for issues like rising crime.

"The chief of government is the person to be blamed for everything. The president is more on the stage to ask for solutions, not to give a solution. So it is the prime minister who is responsible for all the things which are not going well," says political analyst Pascal Boniface.

Jospin pleased French workers by introducing the 35-hour week. But concerns over the economy featured high on the campaign's agenda.

Going into the first-round vote, French voters seemed undecided whether they would prefer Jospin as president to Chirac, a 69-year-old clouded by corruption allegations.

Indeed many reckoned it a mistake that Jospin called Chirac "old and worn down."

"France is politically correct. So there are things that we can think but can't quite say, especially when we are candidates," says pollster Philip Mechet.

Meanwhile, with Jospin cautiously insisting his programme for the presidency wasn't Socialist, cartoonists had fun suggesting he had sold out to capitalists, and Jospin's campaign team was left to explain away the red rose which faded.

"Wanting to be a president you need to address a larger audience than only the Socialists. So you're not supposed to be a Socialist president. You're supposed to be the president of the Republic of France," says Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the Jospin campaign.

As an experienced head of government, Jospin developed authority and was seen as a decent and hard-working politician. But it seems the French may have wanted something else in a president.

-- CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley contributed to this report.