Kim Jong-il, Russia's Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy may need to gain an extra few inches in order to make up for their lack of stature on the world stage. Indeed Sarkozy, the French President, has started using a footstool to make up for his lack of inches when appearing with taller world leaders. Recent pictures have caught him using a discreet wooden accessory during world summits. It followed repeated attempts by the 55-year-old to use everything from stacked heels to standing on tiptoes to increase his tiny stature.
President Sarkozy is just 5ft 5 inches whereas many contemporary world statesmen are more than six feet in height. Barack Obama is 6 feet 2 inches, as is Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 5feet 8 inches tall. The new British Prime Minister David Cameron stands well over six feet. President Sarkozy is even smaller than Napoleon.
A spokesmen for the French President said "The footstool was put in place just before M. Sarkozy made one of his speeches in Normandy... He knew he was appearing on the same podium as far taller world leaders and would have looked ridiculous using a lectern set at their height. You would have barely been able to see Mr Sarkozy's hair bobbing up and down." An insider added, "Combined with his stacked heels, the footstool allowed M. Sarkozy to look as though he was an impressive height, although there were sniggers from those of us who could see what was really going on."
Carla Bruni, the President's statuesque wife, last week admitted that she regretted the way people mocked the flat heeled pumps she regularly wears to try and disguise the five inch height difference between the couple, who married two years ago. The 43-year-old former supermodel turned First Lady, who is 5ft 10 ins, said she could accept almost all the pressures of her new job – except attacks on the diminutive head of state she calls "My little chou chou".
An Elysee Palace spokesperson confirmed that the new Sarkozy footstool was a "useful accessory" to make sure that the President did not disappear behind lecterns designed for far taller world leaders. Fun is frequently poked at the President for standing on a footstool behind podiums known as a "Sarkozy step" when making speeches.
The French president is not the smallest major world leader – he is slightly taller than North Korea's Kim Jong-il and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, both of whom are 5ft 3 ins tall. It is perhaps best not to recommend a footstool for Kim Jong-il in the light of his current macho posturing over nuclear weapons, the poor performance of the North Korean football team in the recent World Cup and his parody in the film "Team America"!
The author has over 20 years experience running companies involved in furnishing fabrics and furniture manufacturing in the UK and writes extensively about current events, footstools and contemporary furniture.
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