Word: boissieu
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Charles de Gaulle once described the French armed forces as "the rampart of order." Today that rampart looks as if it were part of a half-ruined fortress. Morale in the ranks is so low, warned General Alain de Boissieu in a top-secret report that leaked to the press last December, that an upheaval similar to the one that racked France in May 1968 could break out within the army. Even the professional cadre of officers, wrote Boissieu (who happens to be De Gaulle's son-in-law), "have lost confidence in the hierarchy...
With glacial calm, Madame de Gaulle asked that news of the General's death be withheld "until I can notify my family." She quickly reached her daughter Elizabeth in Paris, who set out for Colombey with her husband General Alain de Boissieu. Son Philippe, a navy captain stationed in Brest, was more difficult to locate. As a result, Pompidou was not notified until 4 a.m., and it was not until 17½ hours after his mentor's death that he finally went on television. "General de Gaulle is dead," he said. "France is a widow...