France’s ‘Vice President’ Alexis Kohler bids emotional adieu to Macron and the Élysée Palace

For more than a decade, he was Emmanuel Macron’s most trusted adviser, helping the former economy minister stage an improbable coup and ascend the throne of the French presidency, and later, to implement one of the country’s most contested reforms in decades. Next week, Alexis Kohler, also known as the president’s “twin” and “second brain”, leaves his post at the Élysée Palace – a departure that experts deem will leave both men with “dizzying sadness”.