Valery Giscard d'Estaing served as the president of France from 1974 to 1981. He was a supporter of nuclear power and on June 26, 1980, announced that France had developed and tested a neutron bomb. He lowered France's voting age to 18 and implemented more liberal policies regarding abortion and divorce. Controversy about a gift he accepted from the Central African Empire led to his defeat in the 1981 election.