Editing Charles de Gaulle (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|List of things named after Charles de Gaulle}}

=== Reputation ===
[[File:De Gaulle.jpg|thumb|Portrait by Donald Sheridan]]
De Gaulle made 31 regional tours during his presidency, visiting every French department; for many small towns, the visit was an important moment in history. He enjoyed entering the welcoming crowds; an aide noted how often people said, "he saw me" or "he touched me", and another recalled how a mother begged de Gaulle for the [[king's touch]] on her baby. They, supporters, and opponents surmised that de Gaulle was a monarch-like figure for the French.{{r|jackson2018}}{{rp|616–618}}

Historians have accorded [[Napoleon]] and de Gaulle the top-ranking status of French leaders in the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|author=Philip Thody|author-link=Philip Thody|title=French Caesarism from Napoleon I to Charles de Gaulle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDiwCwAAQBAJ|year=1989|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=150|isbn=978-1-349-20089-4}}</ref> According to a 2005 survey, carried out in the context of the tenth anniversary of the death of [[François Mitterrand]], 35 percent of respondents said Mitterrand was the best French president ever, followed by Charles de Gaulle (30 percent) and [[Jacques Chirac]] (12 percent).<ref>Mitterrand, le préféré des Français [archive], site de TF1-LCI, 2 janvier 2006.</ref> Another poll by BVA four years later showed that 87% of French people regarded his presidency positively.<ref>"Charles de Gaulle, ex-président préféré des Français" [archive], ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 4 November 2009.</ref>

Statues honouring de Gaulle have been erected [[Statue of Charles de Gaulle (London)|in London]], Warsaw, [[Monument to Charles de Gaulle (Moscow)|in Moscow]], Bucharest and Quebec. The first Algerian president, [[Ahmed Ben Bella]], said that de Gaulle was the "military leader who brought us the hardest blows" prior to Algerian independence, but "saw further" than other politicians, and had a "universal dimension that is too often lacking in current leaders."<ref>Ahmed Ben Bella, ''De Gaulle voyait plus loin'', in ''L'Express'', 26 October 1995.</ref> Likewise, [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]], the first president of Senegal, said that few Western leaders could boast of having risked their lives to grant a colony independence.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} De Gaulle was admired by the US President [[Richard Nixon]]; after a meeting at the [[Palace of Versailles]] just before the general left office, Nixon declared that "He did not try to put on airs but an aura of majesty seemed to envelop him ... his performance—and I do not use that word disparagingly—was breathtaking."<ref name="Fenby-20103">{{cite book |last1=Fenby |first1=Jonathan |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8467526-the-general |title=The General: Charles De Gaulle and the France He Saved |date=2010 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-84737-392-2 |location=New York |access-date=19 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828102405/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8467526-the-general |archive-date=28 August 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> On arriving for his funeral, Nixon said of him, "greatness knows no national boundaries".<ref name="TIME-23 November 1970"/>

In 1990, President Mitterrand, de Gaulle's old political rival, presided over the celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. Mitterrand, who once wrote a vitriolic critique of him called the "Permanent Coup d'État", quoted a recent opinion poll, saying, "As General de Gaulle, he has entered the pantheon of great national heroes, where he ranks ahead of [[Napoleon]] and behind only [[Charlemagne]]."<ref name="DeGaulle">Mahoney, Daniel (2000) ''De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur and Modern Democracy'', Transaction Publishers, {{ISBN|1412821274}}</ref> Under the influence of [[Jean-Pierre Chevènement]], the leader of CERES, the left-wing and [[Souverainism|souverainist]] faction of the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]], Mitterrand had, except on certain economic and social policies, rallied to much of Gaullism. Between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s there developed a left-right consensus, dubbed "Gaullo-Mitterrandism", behind the "French status" in NATO: i.e., outside the integrated military command.

A number of commentators have been critical of his failure to prevent the massacres after Algerian independence,<ref name="Perry" /> while others take the view that the struggle had been so long and savage that it was inevitable.<ref name="Fenby-2010" /> The Australian historian [[Brian Crozier]] wrote, "that he was able to part with Algeria without civil war was a great though negative achievement which in all probability would have been beyond the capacity of any other leader France possessed."<ref name="De Gaulle">''De Gaulle: The Statesman''. Brian Crozier (Methuen). 1974</ref>

De Gaulle was an excellent manipulator of the media, as seen in his shrewd use of television to persuade around 80% of [[Metropolitan France]] to approve the new constitution for the Fifth Republic. He afterwards enjoyed massive approval ratings, and once said that "every Frenchman is, has been or will be Gaullist".<ref name="Debray">[[Régis Debray]] (1994) ''Charles de Gaulle: Futurist of the Nation'' translated by John Howe, Verso, New York, {{ISBN|0-86091-622-7}}; a translation of Debray, Régis (1990) ''A demain de Gaulle'' Gallimard, Paris, {{ISBN|2-07-072021-7}}</ref>

That de Gaulle did not necessarily reflect mainstream French public opinion with his veto was suggested by the decisive majority of French people who voted in favour of British membership when Pompidou called a referendum on the matter in 1972. His early influence in setting the parameters of the EEC can still be seen, most notably with the controversial [[Common Agricultural Policy]].

Some writers take the view that Pompidou was a more progressive and influential leader than de Gaulle because, though also a Gaullist, he was less autocratic and more interested in social reforms.<ref name="Perry" /><ref>Richards, Denis and Quick, Anthony (1974) ''20th Century Britain''</ref> Although he followed the main tenets of de Gaulle's foreign policy, he was keen to work towards warmer relations with the United States.

In 1968, shortly before leaving office, de Gaulle refused to devalue the Franc on grounds of national prestige, but upon taking over Pompidou reversed the decision almost immediately. During the financial crisis of 1968, France had to rely on American (and West German) financial aid to shore up the economy.<ref name="Perry" />

Perry has written that the <blockquote>events of 1968 illustrated the brittleness of de Gaulle's rule. That he was taken by surprise is an indictment of his rule; he was too remote from real life and had no interest in the conditions under which ordinary French people lived. Problems like inadequate housing and social services had been ignored. The French greeted the news of his departure with some relief as the feeling had grown that he had outlived his usefulness. Perhaps he clung onto power too long, perhaps he should have retired in 1965 when he was still popular.<ref name="Perry" /></blockquote>

[[Brian Crozier]] said "the fame of de Gaulle outstrips his achievements, he chose to make repeated gestures of petulance and defiance that weakened the west without compensating advantages to France"<ref name="De Gaulle" />

[[Régis Debray]] called de Gaulle "super-lucide"<ref name="Debray" /> and pointed out that virtually all of his predictions, such as the fall of communism, the reunification of Germany and the resurrection of 'old' Russia, came true after his death.<ref>In fact, several of de Gaulle's predictions, such as his often-repeated belief during the early cold war period that a Third World War, with its "nuclear bombardments, famine, deportations" was not only ineluctable, but imminent, have not yet materialized. Jean Lacouture, ''De Gaulle'', Seuil, vol. II, p. 357.</ref> Debray compared him with [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] ('the great political myth of the 19th century'), calling de Gaulle his 20th-century equivalent.<ref name="Debray" />

While de Gaulle had many admirers, he was also one of the most hated and reviled men in modern French history.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 3679392|title = General de Gaulle and His Enemies: Anti-Gaullism in France Since 1940|journal = Transactions of the Royal Historical Society|volume = 9|pages = 43–65|last1 = Jackson|first1 = Julian|year = 1999|doi = 10.2307/3679392| s2cid=154467724 }}</ref>

=== Memorials ===
{{Further|Things named after Charles de Gaulle}}
[[File:4 Carlton Gardens London HQ of Charles de Gaulle.JPG|thumb|right|[[Blue plaque]] commemorating the headquarters of General de Gaulle at 4 [[Carlton House Terrace|Carlton Gardens]] in London during World War II]]

A number of monuments have been built to commemorate de Gaulle. France's largest airport, located in [[Roissy-en-France|Roissy]], outside Paris, is named [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]]. [[French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle|France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier]] is also named after him.