[1][2] His father, Albert Ratsiraka, was a member of the Parti des déshérités de Madagascar in the Moramanga District and a Malagasy official in the French colonial administration.

[1] Ratsiraka initially served as a military attaché at the Embassy of Madagascar in Paris, before being appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs with President Gabriel Ramanantsoa's transitional government from 1972 until 1975.

[2] Known as the "Red Admiral", he was made head of state, as President of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, by the military leadership on 15 June 1975.

[7] In the midst of a poor economic situation, Ratsiraka abandoned socialist policies after a few years in power and implemented reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund.

[5] Zafy was impeached by the National Assembly of Madagascar in 1996,[5][11] and Ratsiraka, who had been in exile in France,[11][12] mounted a political comeback in late 1996 when he won that year's presidential election, running as the candidate of the AREMA party.

He came in first place in the first round with 36.6% of the vote,[10][12] ahead of his three main opponents: Zafy, Herizo Razafimahaleo, and Prime Minister/Acting President Norbert Ratsirahonana.

[13] Members of the opposition, including Zafy, unsuccessfully attempted to impeach Ratsiraka in February 1998, accusing him of violating the constitution through decentralizing reforms that would increase his own power at the expense of that of the National Assembly.

Because, according to the official results, no candidate won a majority, a runoff was to take place, but due to disputes over the election it was never held.

[19] On 6 August 2003, Ratsiraka—who was accused of stealing nearly eight million dollars in public funds from the annex of the central bank in Toamasina in June 2002, just before going into exile—was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in Madagascar.

[30] Ratsiraka returned from exile on 24 November 2011, a move that was welcomed by the Rajoelina government as well as by former presidents (and former opponents) Ravalomanana and Zafy.

[32] Ratsiraka wrote a book with Cécile Lavrard-Meyer, a lecturer at Sciences Po in Paris, which was published by Éditions Karthala in July 2015.

[33] On 22 March 2021, Ratsiraka and his wife, Celine, were both admitted to the Soavinandriana Military Hospital (CENHOSOA) in Antananarivo, for treatment of a "small flu", according to their relatives.