But his plain-talking style, his popularity among the middle classes who feel their pockets squeezed and his frequent spats with President Jacques Chirac have all let him project an image that sets him apart from the elite.
Its social elite commissioned Paris' finest architects to build their mausoleums in the image of the great palaces of the Recoleta district they inhabited.
Whether it will succeed in burnishing the cultural image of teaching once the economy has recovered, and students at elite universities are once again enticed by the high pay offered elsewhere, seems less likely.