The far-right French politician was a leading candidate to become the country’s next president, but has now been barred from running for public office for five years.

PARIS -- For years, Marine Le Pen stood at the gates of power — poised, relentless and rising. She stripped the French far right of its old symbols, sanded down its roughest edges and built in its place a sleek, disciplined machine with the single goal of winning the country's presidency.