Thinkers and political figures
Portrait: US Office of War Information, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Public domain
Charles de Gaulle
- Country
- France
- Era
- 1890–1970
- Tradition
- Gaullism
Leader of Free France, founder of the Fifth Republic, who built a strong presidency, an independent nuclear deterrent and a foreign policy of deliberate distance from both Washington and Moscow.
01
Documented positions
Documented positions come from the sources listed. Similarity is this project’s inference from those positions, and is a much weaker claim.
- Founded the Fifth Republic with a directly elected president holding substantial powers over the assembly
- Withdrew France from NATO’s integrated military command in 1966 while remaining in the alliance
- Built an independent French nuclear deterrent rather than rely on the American guarantee
- Granted Algeria independence in 1962 against ferocious opposition from the settler population and parts of the army
- Twice vetoed British entry into the European Economic Community
- Maintained substantial state planning and public ownership of industry, banking and energy
- Resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum, having staked his office on it
02
Where it sits on each dimension
Wealth and inequality
42
RedistributionMarket outcomes
Evidence: Documented
The state in the economy
30
Active stateLimited state
Evidence: Well documented
Personal liberty
45
Collective orderIndividual freedom
Evidence: Documented
Tradition and change
35
ContinuityReform
Evidence: Documented
Nation and the world
92
InternationalistNationalist
Evidence: Well documented
Religion and the state
52
Secular stateReligion in public life
Evidence: Documented
Power and its limits
40
Concentrated authorityChecks and pluralism
Evidence: Well documented
Dimensions left unscored, for want of evidence: Environment and growth, Crime and punishment
Sources
- Charles de Gaulle, War Memoirs · 1954
- Julian Jackson, A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle · Allen Lane · 2018
Last verified: