The first cases of COVID-19 were detected on January 24, 2020. The government, led by Emmanuel Macron, was facing other problems at the time. In particular, it had begun to negotiate a proposed law reforming social security reform, one of the major challenges the French president had set for himself since the beginning of his term. Macron is a typical product of the French political system. Trained at the prestigious and elitist École Nationale d'Administration (ENA), he feels as comfortable in the world of finance as in the discussions on philosophy. After belonging to the Socialist Party and serving as a minister under President François Hollande, Macron decided to build his own party, La République en Marche (LREM). He presented himself to the public as a problem-solving leader, unbound by ideological constraints. In 2017, he achieved an extraordinary political victory, being elected president and obtaining a majority in the National Assembly and the Senate. Macron won the election with an eclectic agenda, combining issues typical of the left (e.g., caring for the unemployed) with others typical of the right (such as security and competitiveness). For this reason, from the beginning, his administration was marked by intense controversy and conflict. The most memorable of the protests was the “yellow vest” mobilization. The emergence of the pandemic abruptly changed the political landscape. In March 2020, just days before the departmental and municipal elections, faced with the exponential increase in infections and deaths, Macron established a Scientific Council (SC) to advise the government during the crisis. Between 2020 and 2021, France suffered six waves of infections. Despite the strength of its health system and its powerful scientific ecosystem, the population experienced critical moments. The government adopted extraordinary measures that generated resistance. In particular, it decided three lockdowns seeking to “confine the population without confining the economy”. The SC played a crucial role throughout the pandemic. Of course, it wasn't the only institution involved in the fight against the unknown “invisible enemy,” as Macron called the new virus. But SC was the most important. In general, the government took the decisions suggested by SC, from the postponement of the elections in March 2020 to the lockdowns, but both scientists and government officials were very clear throughout the emergency that the SC should advise and that it was up to the government to decide. Of course, there was no perfect correspondence between recommendations and decisions. In addition, the SC's work did not have the unanimous support of the French scientific community. There were several powerful dissenters. The opposition to Macron, led by Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement National party, relied on the arguments of the dissidents to reinforce its criticism of the government. Despite the pandemic, criticism, and the conflicts generated by some of his decisions, Macron was reelected in 2022, although he gradually lost support in parliament.