Georges Pompidou
| Georges Pompidou | |
|---|---|
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| President of the French Republic Co-Prince of Andorra President of the Fifth Republic |
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| In office 20 June 1969 – 2 April 1974 |
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| Prime Minister | Jacques Chaban-Delmas Pierre Messmer |
| Preceded by | Charles de Gaulle followed by Alain Poher (interim) |
| Succeeded by | Alain Poher (interim) followed by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
| Prime Minister of France | |
| In office 14 April 1962 – 10 July 1968 |
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| Preceded by | Michel Debré |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Couve de Murville |
| French Co-Prince of Andorra | |
| In office 20 June 1969 – 2 April 1974 |
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| Preceded by | Charles de Gaulle |
| Succeeded by | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
| President | Charles de Gaulle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 July 1911 Montboudif |
| Died | 2 April 1974 (aged 62) île Saint-Louis, Paris |
| Political party | UDR |
| Spouse(s) | Claude Pompidou |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ pɔ̃pidu]; 5 July 1911 – 2 April 1974) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.
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[edit] Biography
He was born in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal in central France.[1] After his khâgne at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he befriended Senegalese future poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor, he graduated from the École Normale Supérieure with a degree of Agrégation in literature.
He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the bank's general manager, a position he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down's Syndrome (de Gaulle's daughter Anne had Down's Syndrome).
[edit] Prime Minister
He served as prime minister under de Gaulle after Michel Debré resigned, from 16 April 1962 to 21 July 1968, and to this day is the longest serving French prime minister under the Fifth Republic. His nomination was controversial because he was not a member of the National Assembly. In October 1962, he was defeated by a vote of non-confidence, but de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly. The Gaullists won the legislative election and Pompidou was reappointed as Prime Minister. In 1964, he was faced with a miners' strike. He led the 1967 legislative campaign of the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic to a narrow victory. Pompidou was widely regarded as being responsible for the peaceful resolution of the student uprising of May 1968. His strategy was to break the coalition of students and workers by negotiating with the trade-unions and employers (Grenelle conference). Until this crisis, he was the Prime Minister of a quiet and prosperous France.
However, during the events of May 1968, disagreements arose between Pompidou and de Gaulle. Pompidou did not understand why the President did not inform him of his departure to Baden-Baden on 29 May. Their relationship, until then very good, would be strained from then on. Pompidou led and won the 1968 legislative campaign, leading to a tremendous victory of the Gaullist Party, then resigned. Nevertheless, in part due to his actions during the May 1968 crisis, he appeared as the natural successor to de Gaulle. Pompidou announced his candidature for the Presidency in January 1969. Some weeks later, his wife's name was mentioned in the Markovic scandal, thus appearing to confirm her husband's status as a cuckold. Pompidou was certain that de Gaulle's inner circle was responsible for this smear.
[edit] President
After the failure of the 1969 referendum, de Gaulle resigned and Pompidou was elected president of France.[2] In the general election of 15 June 1969, he defeated the centrist President of the Senate and Acting President Alain Poher by a wide margin (57%–42%).[3] Though a Gaullist, Pompidou was more pragmatic than de Gaulle, notably allowing the United Kingdom to join the European Community in 1973. He embarked on an industrialisation plan and initiated the Arianespace project, as well as the TGV, and gave to the French civilian nuclear program a step forward . He was sceptical about the "New Society" programme of his prime minister, Jacques Chaban-Delmas. In 1972, Chaban-Delmas was replaced by Pierre Messmer, a more conservative Gaullist.
While the left-wing opposition got organised in proposing a Common Programme before the 1973 legislative election, he widened out his "presidential majority" by including the Centrist pro-European parties.
Pompidou's time in office was marked by a constant effort to modernise France's capital city. This can be seen through his construction of a modern art museum, the Centre Beaubourg (renamed Centre Pompidou after his death), on the edge of the Marais area of Paris. Other attempts at modernisation included tearing down the open air markets at Les Halles and replacing it with the shopping mall of the same name, building the Montparnasse Tower, and constructing an expressway on the right bank of the Seine.
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Pompidou with U.S. president Richard Nixon in Reykjavík, 31 May 1973.
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Pompidou with West German chancellor Willy Brandt in Cologne, 3 July 1972.
[edit] Death in office
While still in office, Pompidou died unexpectedly on 2 April 1974, 9 PM,[4] from Waldenström macroglobulinemia.
Pompidou's wife Claude Pompidou lived more than thirty years past his death. The couple had one foster son, Alain Pompidou, former president of the European Patent Office.
[edit] Works
- Anthologie de la Poésie Française, Livre de Poche/Hachette, 1961
- Le Nœud gordien, éd. Plon, 1974
- Entretiens et discours, deux vol., éd. Plon, 1975
- Pour rétablir une vérité, éd. Flammarion, 1982
[edit] Ministries
[edit] First ministry, 14 April–28 November 1962
Changes
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[edit] Second ministry, 28 November 1962 – 8 January 1966
Changes
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[edit] Third ministry, 8 January 1966 – 6 April 1967
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[edit] Fifth ministry, 30 May – 10 July 1968
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[edit] Quotations
- "There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technicians."[5]
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Georges Pompidou |
[edit] References
- ^ Wall, E. H. (1976). "Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond". In William D. Halsey. Collier's Encyclopedia. 19. Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 236.
- ^ United Press International (2011). "1969 Year in Review: Charles DeGaulle Defeated". Upi.com. United Press International, Inc.. http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1969/Charles-DeGaulle-Defeated/12303189849225-8/. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ Berstein, Serge; Rioux, Jean-Pierre (2000). The Cambridge History of Modern France: The Pompidou Years, 1969–1974. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-521-58061-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=_GyhQAJeOZoC&pg=PA14#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ Declaration of vacancy, Constitutional Council of France
- ^ Georges Pompidou Quotes at brainyquote.com
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michel Debré |
Prime Minister of France 1962–1968 |
Succeeded by Maurice Couve de Murville |
| Preceded by Alain Poher (Interim President) |
President of France 1969–1974 |
Succeeded by Alain Poher (Interim President) |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles de Gaulle |
Gaullist party Presidential candidate 1969 (won) |
Succeeded by Jacques Chaban-Delmas |
| Regnal titles | ||
| Preceded by Charles de Gaulle and Ramon Iglesias i Navarri |
Co-Prince of Andorra 1969–1974 with Ramón Malla Call (1969–1971) and Joan Martí Alanis (1971–1974) |
Succeeded by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Joan Martí Alanis |
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