Word: gaullists
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Viansson-Ponte is a court chronicler without being courtier. As political editor of the prestigious Le Monde, he has free access to inner government circles even though he is not a Gaullist. This position gives him a rare detachment: he is able to write knowledgeably about De Gaulle while avoiding both the admiration of a follower and the jealousy of an opponent. The King and His Court resembles the Duc de Saint-Simson's colorful Memoirs about life with Louis XIV, full of sympathy and gossip, yet it retains the ironical view-point of a journalist somewhat skeptical about...
...Fifth Republic is really a benevolent despotism, the popularity of the despot has apparently soothed the conscience of the French people. Television is the most successful purveyor of the Gaullist cult, and the General uses it like a professional actor. He commands sympathy as skillfully as he commands votes...
...second half of The King and His Court consists of a biographical directory of leading Gaullists, annotated with symbols a la Guide Michelin. A camel, for example, signifies a Gaullist who stuck by the General during the desert years from 1953 to 1958, when he completely withdrew from politics. A machine gun insignia marks those who fought in the Resistance. Any kind of affiliation with De Gaulle, past or present, qualifies a man for the Directory. Thus Raymond Aron, now an opponent of De Gaulle, is listed along with heir-apparent Michele Debre and obscure hatchetmen like Jean-Baptiste Biaggi...
...menageric of personalities in the Directory refflects both Viansson-Ponte's sense of humor and the nebulous character of Gaullism itself. Viansson-Ponte deliberately avoids set definitions. To be a Gaullist one must be loyal to the General or to a cause which coincides with the General's ambitions. The hard-core cadres of Gaullism belong to the elite Union pour la Nouvelle Republique (U.N.R.). Millions of women cast their ballots for the General simply because "they are used to him and are afraid of what would happen were he to disappear. But the most devoted Gaullists are the oldtimers...
Lorelei Umbrella. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara started off in NATO's huge conference room, nicknamed the Cathedral, by once again trying to answer the basic Gaullist suspicion that the U.S. might not defend Europe. In case of an all-out war, said McNamara, the alternative of "Europe or the U.S." did not exist in Washington planning. In nuclear terms, an attack on Western Europe would be an attack on the U.S. As proof, McNamara pointed out that the U.S. has placed in NATO more than 800 ICBMs, more than 300 Polaris missiles and hundreds of bombers. The aggregate yield...