Le Pen was convicted numerous times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence. But the nativist ideas that propelled his popularity remain ascendant in today's France and beyond.
France's government has been toppled by a no-confidence vote in parliament, for the first time sine 1962. Prime Minister Michel Barnier served the shortest time in the post in France's modern history.
Four weeks of chanting and shouting on the streets were not expressions of anger about politics — but the sound of joy and excitement about the European Championship soccer tournament.
The president called surprise legislative elections, in two rounds on Sunday and July 7, and they're shaping up to be among the country's most divisive in recent history.
Sunday's contest has implications for the spread of far-right ideology, France's relationship with the rest of Europe and the country's posture toward Russia.
