Word: colombey
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...over much of its own defense-thus shouldering more of the huge military burden that the U.S. has carried since the cold war began. "The shape of Europe's future is essentially the business of the Europeans," Richard Nixon has observed. If De Gaulle's return to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises clears the way for a new Western European consensus outside his outsized shadow, the U.S. may finally see what it set out to achieve after World War II: a Continent once more self-sustaining, at peace with itself and the world...
...Gaulle was gone. At one moment he had been there, seemingly as durable as the Arc de Triomphe, the most commanding figure ruling any nation, large or small, on the face of the earth. Now, abruptly, he was a retired country gentleman, a recluse in the tiny village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises sorting his memoirs, to be glimpsed only through a furtive telephoto lens and, most astonishing, to be heard not at all. Within twelve hours after his resignation in the wake of a referendum vote against his policies, workmen had moved his artifacts and files from the Elysee...
...much of his time?very discreetly, almost secretly?as the manager of De Gaulle's affairs. He handled the publication of the general's memoirs, administered the foundation in memory of the De Gaulles' retarded daughter Anne, and was in fact unofficial chef de cabinet for the exile in Colombey. When De Gaulle finally returned to office as Premier in the last days of the Fourth Republic, Pompidou took a six-month leave of absence from his job to serve as his official chef de cabinet. On inauguration day, De Gaulle ceremoniously offered a seat in the presidential limousine...
...fall of a great man. But as a former Rothschild banker, he was also well aware of the fund of admiration and good will that the French people hold for him. When the Latin Quarter was a battleground last May and June, De Gaulle cut and ran for Colombey and very nearly quit. Pompidou took over, and in a round-the-clock performance under strong pressure, effectively ran the government and cooled the crisis. He felt then that "a current" passed between himself and the country, and quietly told friends that "I will either be the next President of France...
...consideration of France, they were met with De Gaulle's fierce obduracy. At war's end De Gaulle headed the provisional government. But within two years, because of party squabbles, he resigned his post and, hurt but still in love, retired to his rural retreat in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises...