Download or read book Political Leadership in France written by J. Gaffney and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-04-09 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gaffney analyzes how de Gaulle came to power in 1958: The drama surrounding the Fourth Republic's collapse, and the focus upon an exceptional individual meant that de Gaulle was able to confer a particular style of leadership on the Fifth Republic. The five Presidents who came after him have each capitalized on their own political 'persona.'