Charles de Gaulle

:For the Paris airport, see Charles de Gaulle International Airport. For the aircraft carrier, see FS Charles de Gaulle.

1969 The retirement

Charles de Gaulle resigned the presidency on April 28, 1969 following the defeat of his referendum to transform the Senate (upper house of the French parliament, wielding less power than the National Assembly) into an advisory body while giving extended powers to regional councils. Some said this referendum was a self-conscious political suicide committed by de Gaulle after the traumatizing events of May 1968. As proven before in 1946, de Gaulle refused to stay in power without widespread popular support. He retired once again to Colombey-les-deux-Églises, where he died suddenly in 1970, while in the middle of writing his memoirs. In perfect health until then, it was reported that as he had finished watching the evening news on television and was sitting in his armchair he suddenly said "I feel a pain here", pointing to his neck, just seconds before he fell unconscious due to an aneurysmal rupture. Within minutes he was dead.

Related Topics:
April 28 - 1969 - Senate - National Assembly - Regional councils - Aneurysmal rupture

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