Clemenceau: The Politician
Sometimes admired, even occasionally popular; John Roberts describes how Georges Clemenceau towered over French political life for nearly half a century.
Georges Mandel, who was murdered by the Vichy government in 1944, was almost the last survivor of the small group of Clemenceau’s close colleagues.
By the end of the Third Republic, Clemenceau’s friends and enemies alike were forgotten, but the “Tiger” himself remains a legendary figure. His fame outside France is that of a great wartime Prime Minister, but long before 1917 he overshadowed the politics of the Third Republic.
Partly because of his aggressiveness and his violence, he towered over the Left for forty years. He dominated it rather than led it, and only became a minister in 1906, the year that he formed his own first government.
The experience of isolation hardened him. He was sometimes admired, and even occasionally popular, but he made more enemies than friends. His ferocity towards political opponents won him his nickname, and he was always ready to back up his words with sword or pistol.
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