Charles de Gaulle served as French President

When French President Henri Pétain agreed to an armistice with Nazi Germany in June 1940, De Gaulle traveled to London. He established the Free French Army there and won the allegiance of the French colonies. Following a successful campaign in North Africa by his soldiers, he was appointed leader of the French government in exile in June 1944. De Gaulle joyously marched into Paris on August 26 following the Allied invasion of France. In November, he was overwhelmingly selected to serve as France's interim president. However, he announced his resignation two years later, claiming he lacked the power to rule.

In 1947, he founded a new political party, but it only had average electoral success, and in 1953, he gave up politics altogether. However, De Gaulle agreed to head a new emergency administration in 1958 when a French colonial uprising in Algeria sparked a significant political crisis in France. Since he was regarded as the only leader with the strength and stature to handle the perilous situation, he was designated the virtual dictator of France with the power to rule by decree for six months. He was elected president of the Fifth Republic on December 21 after a national vote in September approved a new constitution of his design.

During the next decade, President de Gaulle granted independence to Algeria and attempted to restore France to its former international stature by withdrawing from the U.S.-dominated NATO alliance and promoting the development of French atomic weapons. Student demonstrations and workers’ strikes in 1968 eroded his popular support, and in 1969 his proposals for constitutional reform were defeated in a national vote. On April 28, 1969, Charles de Gaulle, at 79 years old, retired permanently. He died the following year.