For the general public these are the images of Roland Dumas that spring to mind: The one showing him being escorted by the investigating judge, Eva Joly, outside his apartment on the Quai de Bourbon, following a search in connection with the Elf affair. The one of his mistress, Christine Deviers-Joncour, nicknamed “the whore of the Republic”, who was plastered all over the television. However these images are far too simple to adequately portray this public figure. His profession as a lawyer and his duties as an MP and then a minister provided him with the perfect opportunity to achieve his ambition of climbing the social ladder and raising himself to the top ranks of the State. Close friend, henchman and covert right-hand man of Mitterrand in negotiations with the communists on the one hand and the extreme right on the other, he is one of the last living members of the intimate circle of the former President of the French Republic and one of the last witnesses to the 1981 election victory.