FRANCE: The Man from Calvados

Every Frenchman knows Calvados, the fiery Norman applejack, but few knew much about the man from Calvados. When Joseph Laniel rose in the tribunal of the National Assembly last week to make his bid to become Premier of France, he brought to that jaded assembly something of the freshness of the Normandy apple country he represents. A friendly, ruddy-faced man of 63, barrel-chested Assemblyman Laniel offered a "maybe-yes maybe-no" program with all the tight-fisted caution of a Norman farmer. After 36 days of bitter inter-party feuding, the fact that Joseph Laniel was relatively unknown (i.e., lacked enemies) made him...

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