Arrogant, brutal, an authoritarian demagogue, a “perfect Iago”; the president-elect of France has been called a lot of unpleasant things in recent months and now has five years to prove his critics wrong. But what is certain is that Nicolas Sarkozy, who won today’s runoff election, is one of the most polarizing figures to move into Élysée Palace in the postwar era. He is a whirling dervish of ideas who inspires hope and fear on both sides of the French political scene. Even many members of his own Union for Popular Movement party are holding their breath in anticipation of...