Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led the French Resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France. In 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers by President René Coty. He was asked to rewrite the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of the French Republic later that year, a position he was reelected to in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969.

Although reelected President of the Republic in 1965, he appeared likely to lose power amid widespread protests by students and workers in May 1968, but survived the crisis and won an election with an increased majority in the National Assembly. De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralisation. He died a year later at his residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, leaving his presidential memoirs unfinished. He was the dominant figure of France during the early part of the Cold War era; his memory continues to influence French politics. Many French political parties and figures claim a Gaullist legacy; many streets and monuments in France were dedicated to his memory after his death.

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