Băsescu's father, Dumitru (1924–2002), was a retired army officer, whilst his mother, Elena (1929–2010) was an ordinary peasant or homemaker who died of breast cancer.

[16] The most controversial episode of his professional career began on 10 September 1981 in the French port Rouen, when a fire started around the Romanian tanker Argeș, then under the command of Traian Băsescu, affecting a large portion of the Seine River.

Concurrently with his second term in Parliament, from November 1996 to June 2000, Băsescu also served as Minister of Transport in the center-right governments of Victor Ciorbea, Radu Vasile, and Mugur Isărescu.

In 1996, Băsescu was the first Romanian parliamentarian to renounce his parliamentary immunity, in order to allow judicial procedures related to the Fleet File Affair to continue against him.

[19] In 2000, Băsescu was elected mayor of Bucharest, winning the run-off against Social Democratic Party (PDSR) candidate Sorin Oprescu by a slim margin (50.69% to 49.31%), despite trailing him by 24% in the first round.

The new pact, called the Justice and Truth Alliance (Romanian: Alianța Dreptate și Adevăr), ran common candidates in local and national elections, and agreed to vote as a bloc in Parliament.

In the live TV debate with Adrian Năstase before the 2004 run-off presidential election, Băsescu caught his opponent off-guard with a rhetorical remark: "You know what Romania's greatest curse is right now?

Particularly vocal was the ultra-nationalist PRM leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor, who walked with posters on the floor of Parliament, whistled and interrupted Băsescu's speech several times.

In his electoral campaign, he promised to be a președinte jucător (in Romanian), "player-president", in contrast to a more withdrawn president who would be just a mediator among political forces (thus creating in the eyes of some a juridical conflict of a constitutional nature).

During the course of his presidency, his relations with Popescu-Tăriceanu gradually soured, particularly following the Prime Minister's reversal of course in July 2005 after Tăriceanu initially announced he would resign causing early parliamentary elections,[56] which some hoped would have resulted in the Justice and Truth Alliance governing alone.

"[citation needed] According to Băsescu, Tăriceanu phoned the Prosecutor General of Romania, then tried to put further pressure through a specially dedicated speech to the Parliament on 8 November 2006, and tried "the same thing" with Justice Minister Monica Macovei, arranging a meeting with a businessman at the Government Palace.

[61] In response, the Prime Minister declared that the matter was just an attempt to hide "what is going on at Cotroceni and around it," and publicly accused Băsescu of facilitating contracts to companies "close to him".

"If the Prime Minister does not produce such proof, the President considers that these statements are without substance and are of such a nature as to distract the public attention from his own deed," a presidential communiqué stated.

[62] Dinu Patriciu, an influential businessman and PNL member, stated on a public TV station that, in his opinion, Tăriceanu's note was a "friendly gesture, a sign of normality".

"[63] The daily newspaper Adevărul published another note, in which the President requested the PD Transport Minister to analyze and find a "legal solution" to a petition from a company close to Băsescu.

[65] Allegedly, one of the major issues in the confrontation was the activity of Justice Minister Monica Macovei, who supported prosecutor's efforts to follow up on cases of corruption, especially those involving politically connected individuals.

[74] After the impeachment vote, several public rallies to support Băsescu in the referendum, and protest against his suspension, were organized by PD and PLD both in Romania (Bucharest, Iaşi, etc.

[75][76] Băsescu and his supporters in the Democratic Party also suggested that his political opponents would try to modify the electoral law in order to prohibit a previously suspended president from running in the elections again,[77] following a Rolandas Paksas scenario.

[84] In June 2015 The Attorney General of Romania started investigating illegalities committed by certain members of the Constitutional Court in order to save the embattled president.

On the other hand, Crin Antonescu, who has served as acting president during this entire process, claims Băsescu is an "illegitimate" leader as he was suspended by Parliament and dismissed by the people.

[94][95] On 19 May 2007, the day of the suspension referendum, Băsescu took the mobile phone of Antena 1 journalist Andreea Pană, who was filming him while he was shopping with his wife, despite being asked to leave him alone.

On 20 April 2016 the General Prosecutor's Office announced that they decided to prosecute Traian Băsescu for money laundering in a criminal case concerning the sale of land in Bucharest's northern neighbourhood of Băneasa to the businessman Costel Cășuneanu.

[110] According to Civic Solidarity platform's report “European values bought and sold” Traian Băsescu is one of the most prominent lobbyists for the Azerbaijani regime in Romania.

The International consortium of investigative journalists, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has discovered criminal connections behind the real estate where the Heydar Aliyev foundation was located in Bucharest.

[111] Despite his close ties with Azerbaijani government, Traian Băsescu became one of co-authors of the controversial statement on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, issued by European Parliament on 10 June 2020.

[113] In June 2011, during a televised talk-show, president Băsescu made a somewhat disputed remark about former King Michael of Romania saying that "he was a slave to the Russians" and calling his 1947 abdication "an act of treason".

This triggered a wave of criticism, and some letters demanding he resign, from the opposition parties and their sympathizers, who expressed their disapproval of such an interpretation of Romanian history, and the perceived lack of respect towards the former king.

[115][116] President Băsescu added that if he had been in Marshal Antonescu's place, he too would have ordered the Romanian troops to cross the Prut River and attack the USSR, with the purpose of regaining Bessarabia, lost in 1940.

[120] On 5 September 2019, in the first hearing before the Court of Appeal, Băsescu admitted writing the memos published by CNSAS, using the name "Petrov" at the request of Colonel Tudor from the military counterintelligence.

[121] However he denied having been an official collaborator of the Securitate (with a signed agreement), mentioning that he also filed other reports to his employer (the former Romanian shipping company "Navrom") under his real name.