Editing Charles de Gaulle (section)

=== Mid-1920s: ghostwriter for Pétain ===
De Gaulle's career was saved by Pétain, who arranged for his staff college grade to be amended to ''bien'' ("good"—but not the "excellent" needed for a general staff posting).<ref name="Fenby-2010" />{{RP|82–83}} From 1 July 1925 he worked for Pétain (as part of the ''[[Maison Pétain]]''), largely as a "pen officer" ([[ghostwriter]]).<ref name="Lacouture 1991, p77-86">Lacouture 1991, pp. 77–86</ref> De Gaulle disapproved of Pétain's decision to take command in Morocco in 1925 (he was later known to remark that "Marshal Pétain was a great man. He died in 1925, but he did not know it") and of what he saw as the lust for public adulation of Pétain and his wife. In 1925 de Gaulle began to cultivate [[Joseph Paul-Boncour]], his first [[Political patronage|political patron]].<ref>Lacouture 1991, p. 80</ref> On 1 December 1925 he published an essay on the "Historical Role of French Fortresses". This was a popular topic because of the [[Maginot Line]] which was then being planned, but he argued that the aim of fortresses should be to weaken the enemy, not to economise on defence.<ref name="Lacouture 1991, p77-86" />

Friction arose between de Gaulle and Pétain over ''Le Soldat'', a history of the French soldier which he had ghost-written and for which he wanted greater writing credit. He had written mainly historical material, but Pétain wanted to add a final chapter of his own thoughts. There was at least one stormy meeting late in 1926 after which de Gaulle was seen to emerge, white with anger, from Pétain's office.<ref name="Lacouture 1991, p84-7">Lacouture 1991, pp. 84–7</ref> In October 1926 he returned to his duties with the Headquarters of the Army of the Rhine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/pages/l-homme/dossiers-thematiques/1890-1940-la-genese/un-officier-non-conformiste/reperes/chronologie-1921-1939.php|title=Chronologie 1921–1939|publisher=charles-de-gaulle.org|access-date=14 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234832/http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/pages/l-homme/dossiers-thematiques/1890-1940-la-genese/un-officier-non-conformiste/reperes/chronologie-1921-1939.php|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

De Gaulle had sworn that he would never return to the ''École de Guerre'' except as commandant, but at Pétain's invitation, and introduced to the stage by his patron, he delivered three lectures there in April 1927: "Leadership in Wartime", "Character", and "Prestige". These later formed the basis for his book ''The Edge of the Sword'' (1932).<ref name="Lacouture 1991, p88">Lacouture 1991, p. 88</ref>