WITHIN the Gobelin-hung halls of the Elysée Palace mingled the political and military leaders of France, their tricolor sashes and bemedaled uniforms testifying to their country's proud if sometimes painful past. Outside in the courtyard, drawn up on one side of a red carpet that stretched across the white gravel, stood a company of the Republican Guard, resplendent in their 19th century red-trimmed uniforms. Down the ribbon of carpet last week walked Georges Pompidou, the man to whom France has entrusted its destiny for the next seven years.
Pompidou was met at the palace steps by interim President Alain Poher, whom he...