By GREGOR AISCH, MATTHEW BLOCH, K.K. REBECCA LAI and BENOÎT MORENNE MAY 7, 2017
Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency over the right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen in a sweeping victory that resounded across the country. The result bolstered the European Union and showed the limits of Ms. Le Pen’s far-right message.
But Mr. Macron, a political newcomer who campaigned on a centrist, pro-Europe platform, gained widespread support from voters who rejected him in the first round. The vote preserved a French political tradition of mainstream parties working together to bar candidates from the far right, known as the Republican Front. Many voters said they saw him as the lesser of two evils.