FRANCE: Hang It!

"Me, seek power? No, hang it! I may be your President, but I am not the sweeper in this house." Thus snapped Antoine Pinay, when members of his Independent Party pressured him to take on the job of trying to form a new government. Two other Premiers had already tried and failed: Socialist Guy Mollet, representing the biggest bloc (100 seats) among the parties who more or less govern France, and Rene Pleven, whose left-center U.D.S.R. is the smallest (7 seats).

Although the late government of Premier Maurice Bourges-Maunoury had collapsed over...

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