de Gaulle, Charles Andre Joseph Marie

French general and politician

led Free French in World War II

provisional president of France 1945-1946

prime minister of France 1958-1959

president of France 1959-1969 (1st president of 5th French Republic)

granted independence to Algeria 1962

resigned

• "A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends."
• "Roosevelt, a false witness; Truman, a merchant; Eisenhower, I am told that on the golf links he is better [with a putter] than he is with the long shots and that doesn't surprise me; Kennedy, the style of a hairdresser's assistant-he combed his way through problems; Johnson, a truck driver or a stevedore-or a legionnaire."
• "Roosevelt, a false witness; Truman, a merchant; Eisenhower, I am told that on the golf links he is better [with a putter] than he is with the long shots and that doesn't surprise me; Kennedy, the style of a hairdresser's assistant-he combed his way through problems; Johnson, a truck driver or a stevedore-or a legionnaire."
• "How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?"
• "China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese."