Michel Rocard (born 1930) was one of the most respected politician on the French left in the period from 1965 into the 1990s.

Michel Rocard was born on August 23, 1930, in the outskirts of Paris. His father was a nuclear physicist who worked on France's first atomic bomb. Like many politicians of his generation, he got his start by attending the National School of Administration (ENA) and then beginning his career in the civil service.

He was a leader of the student wing of the socialist party (SFIO), but gradually grew disenchanted with its conservatism and support for French war policy in Algeria. In 1958 Rocard was part of a group of socialists who left the SFIO and with other activists formed the new Unified Socialist Party (PSU). Throughout the early 1960s the PSU remained small and lacked a firm identity. Many party leaders advocated merging with other non-communist left groups following...