Word: ral
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...visit was a useful introduction for Wilson to the Gaullist most likely to succeed De Gaulle-if Gaullism sur vives its progenitor. Already Pompidou is le général's undisputed domestic-policy manager, and the only man in his Cabinet that De Gaulle calls by his first name. Though the burly, bushy-browed professor turned banker turned politician had made visits to Japan, India and Denmark for the Fifth Republic, London was actually his major diplomatic debut...
...because of his telegenic good looks and stylish rapport with crowds, Lecanuet in a mere month has raised himself from obscurity to importance with the cry, "Why does France not have a young President?" He is hitting De Gaulle hard on Europe, and to le général's condescending pronouncement that the choice for France on Dec. 5 is himself or "confusion," Lecanuet replies that "the true grandeur of a state is firmness and the ability to survive the passing of a leader...
Conspicuously absent was the French ambassador, who obviously reflected the pique of Charles de Gaulle. The banquet was in honor of the 150th anniversary of Waterloo, and le général does not agree with the British that Waterloo is a part of history that needs commemorating. Encouraged by Waterloo's restaurateurs, souvenir hawkers and the local tourist office, the British, West German and Dutch embassies in Belgium had planned a spirited parade and re-enactment of the battle on the original site twelve miles south of Brussels (which was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
...midnight-the cold, hard truth of fiscal discipline. With a rare talent for understanding politics as well as economics, he was a master of compromise-and a stickler for principle. When France's franc was faltering, he told the imperious Charles de Gaulle: "Mon général, you spoke about restoring the esteem of France. I do not think there will ever be esteem for a country that has a bad currency." When he died of a heart attack at 69 in London last week, after seven years as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund...
...also a history of producing men on horseback, from Napoleon Bonaparte to Napoleon III to the "brav' général" Georges Boulanger, who failed to seize power only through a crucial loss of nerve in 1889. The first elected President of the Third Republic was a soldier, Marshal MacMahon; the last act of the Third Republic was to surrender its powers to another soldier, Marshal Pétain. The rebirth of France began when General de Gaulle disobeyed the Pétain government, which had made peace with the Nazis, and launched the Free French movement...