Is Nicholas Sarkozy over sensitive about his height?
Nicholas Sarkozy, the 5'5" French
president appears to want only little protection.
The pint-sized French president has reportedly banned tall security personnel
from applying to be his personal bodyguards, according to the Daily Telegraph.
A police source told the French newspaper Le Parisien that "large-sized"
candidates do not have much of a chance of being hired as one of Sarkozy's
bodyguards and that "there's no point in hiring supermen."
Sarkozy -- who at 5-feet-5 is dwarfed even by Napoleon Bonaparte -- has had a
bit of a short temper in the past when it comes to his height.
He and supermodel wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy -- who wears flats around her
vertically challenged husband -- nearly pressed charges against a French car
rental firm in April that encouraged customers to rent a Citroen hatchback by
using the slogan "Be like Madame Bruni, take a small French model."
One of the more controversial moves involving his compact stature was when
workers at the Faurecia auto parts company in Normandy claimed they were chosen
to appear with Sarkozy because they were "no bigger than the President," the
Telegraph reports.
In addition, Sarkozy has been known to wear stacked shoes and stand on his
tiptoes in group pictures with fellow world leaders.