The fact that people may not always stay together has, in the past, been something only “the people” experienced. Royalty, politicians and many business leaders were above taking out a divorce. Many a time agreements were made to have “open marriages” where one party (traditionally the wife) was given freedom to an individual level.
One could say that it was a very artificial facade. Noone was ever in doubt that many marriages were obviously pure facade. No specific ones mentioned… People will often be “dead-locked” already, and this blog won’t get into the details of who did what, when and why.
Historic Nonetheless
However, it must be said that just as we have seen historically recent royal divorces (Britain’s Prince Charles and Lady Di and Denmark’s Prince Joachim and Alexandra), so the very thought of a president that would get a divorce while in office was somewhat “unthinkable.”
You can see this in the situation when Bill Clinton was caught in adultery with the intern at the White House. Not only did he have problems in self-control, but he also lost every sense of respect because he lied. It was a true parade-show, and all rumours of Hillary being a politically ambitious lady have proved to be so very true as she chose to stay with Bill Clinton despite the fact that many view Bill as a liability rather than an asset.
News that newly-elected President of France, Sarkozy, is moving towards a divorce may very well cause him to sit for only one period. People are very double standard in this area. No doubt that everyone understands one shouldn’t stay together if doing so is more troublesome than cutting things short. But a President of France in a divorce while in office is a historic first.