Word: mende
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Unheeded Man. In time, Mendès himself became De Gaulle's Minister of National Economy, and worked out an austerity plan for the economic reconstruction of postwar France, including such severe anti-inflation measures as freezing all large bank deposits. But at a Cabinet meeting in January 1945, a majority led by Finance Minister Rene Pleven vigorously objected. After five years of occupation, the French people would not stand for a new period of austerity, they argued. "You see, my dear Mendès," said De Gaulle, "the Minister of Finance and all the experts are against...
From that day in 1945, Mendès-France remained in political isolation. Lacking political power, he served in technical positions. He represented France on the International Monetary Fund and on the U.N. Economic and Social Council. In the National Assembly, he was chairman of the finance committee. Always, in speech after speech, he warned France that the day of reckoning would come...
Both as politician and social animal, Mendès was a lonely man in these years. "There's a certain interior coldness about him," admitted one of his few close friends. His austerity was somehow impressive in itself. He does not smoke, dance or gorge. "He's a great believer in the American drugstore," said a friend, "because he can eat a little and quickly." In Paris, he is rarely invited to theater premieres or fashionable salons. "Getting choice invitations requires work," says one Parisian hostess. "Pierre doesn't go around complimenting people. He just doesn...
Within Thirteen Votes. In June 1953, President Vincent Auriol asked Mendès to try to form France's 18th postwar government. At first he refused; he was not ready. Then characteristically he concluded: "After criticizing the government as I have done, the people would not understand if I refused myself...
...diners du travail. Jacques Soustelle, De Gaulle's bright young lieutenant, came, so did young MRPers of Bidault's party like André Monteil and Robert Buron, and Socialists like Robert Lacoste and Gaston Defferre. Says Servan-Schreiber: "First, we had to get a sounding board for Mendès. With his isolation in Parliament, he made brilliant speeches but there was no political echo. Secondly, he had always worked alone. He didn't know how to work in a team...