In one of his more startling moves during his eleven years as President of France, Charles de Gaulle summarily dismissed Georges Pompidou as his Premier in July 1968. It was particularly shocking in view of the fact that during the disruptive May riots earlier that year, it was Pompidou—not the general—who kept the government running, cooled hot feelings between police and students, and persuaded striking workers to return to the job. Pompidou had also managed the subsequent parliamentary elections for the Gaullists, who won the largest majority that any government had...
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