1993 - The young mayor hero: the Neuilly hostage crisis

In May 1993, Nicolas Sarkozy, the 38-year-old mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine at the time, became a national hero thanks to his first-hand intervention during a kidnapping of children. A gunman, who called himself 'Human Bomb', took the class of a kindergarten near Paris hostage. Sarkozy rushed to the scene and actively participated in the negotiations to free the children, managing to enter the classroom several times to get several children handed over by the attacker. In an iconic image, the young politician came out of the building holding one of the freed children in his arms and handed it safely to its waiting mother. 46 hours later, the leather-armed police broke in, killing the kidnapper and rescuing the hostages. Sarkozy gained great media visibility and his popularity began to grow.