President giving refusal in Paris, one cross inside (5)
I believe the answer is:
nixon
'president' is the definition.
(Richard Nixon)
'refusal in paris one cross inside' is the wordplay.
'refusal in paris' becomes 'non' ('no' in French).
'one' becomes 'I' (Roman numeral).
'cross' becomes 'x' (X is cross-shaped).
'inside' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'i'+'x'='ix'
'non' placed around 'ix' is 'NIXON'.
'giving' is the link.
(Other definitions for nixon that I've seen before include "Watergate US president" , "37th US President" , "US president before Gerald Ford" , "Disgraced US president" , "Ex-US president" .)