Charles de Gaulle Quotes


A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless.


Citations

de Gaulle, Charles. The Edge of the Sword. Translated by Gerard Hopkins, Criterion Books, 1960, p. 65.

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Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
  • Born: November 22, 1890
  • Died: November 9, 1970
  • Nationality: French
  • Profession: Leader

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969.