In his first Prime Minister, de Gaulle had found someone ready to immolate himself, and sacrifice his convictions regarding Algeria, on the altar of his personal loyalty. He had exhausted his usefulness; it was time to move on. As Debré’s successor, de Gaulle chose Georges Pompidou, who had served him so well behind the scenes on many occasions. Pompidou, who had nothing of the zealot about him, could not have been more different from his anxiously earnest predecessor
