How Sarkozy masterminded victory

By Jon Boyle

PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy's election triumph on Sunday was the result of a meticulously planned campaign based around a united party and a fierce personal ambition that drove him towards France's presidency for decades.

When Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia strolled hand-in-hand to the Interior Ministry as he took up his post there in May 2002, he already had the 2007 presidential election clearly in his sights.

"It's hard to put a precise date on it, but it's clear that in 2002 he already wanted to go for it," Sarkozy's campaign chief of staff Claude Gueant told Reuters.

Others say he had been dreaming of the presidency for much longer, but the ministry became the base camp of an assault on the pinnacle of French power that culminated in Sunday's defeat of Socialist Segolene Royal.

Sarkozy's tough talking and no-nonsense style as interior minister established his credentials as the leading light of the conservative Union for a Political Movement, and he became its leader in 2004.

Uniting the UMP behind him, he turned it into a election campaign juggernaut that overpowered Royal, who failed to unify the fractured Socialist party. On the way he survived countless setbacks, even being spurned by President Jacques Chirac.

Sarkozy won the UMP's nomination as its presidential candidate in mid-January, and rolled out his campaign with the precision of a Swiss watch.

Outspoken comments on crime, immigration and national identity were intended to rally mainstream right and far-right voters and he also saw off a mid-race surge by a centrist candidate.