De Gaulle Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy

Subjects:

• Political Science » Political Philosophy
• Political Science » Comparative Politics
• Multicultural Studies » European Studies
• History » European History -- Modern/20th Century

Reviews:

• On no other figure--save perhaps Jerry Lewis--have the perceptions of the French and their English-speaking allies been more divided than on Charles de Gaulle....Mahoney has analyzed de Gaulle's own writings in an effort to make this complex man more accessible to Anglo-American scholars....it is an important acquisition for graduate and specialist collections.
  —
  Choice
• No biographer or historian has yet quite captured the greatness of Charles de Gaulle. Daniel J. Mahoney's book takes a new approach. It is an extraordinarily penetrating and original study of de Gaulle as political thinker....More than a treatment of the well-known aspects of de Gaulle's career, Mahoney has written a work of political reflection. His astounding claim is that de Gaulle's books and speeches, analyzed in the light of his deeds, are a source of profound insight, not only into political life but into the human condition. To make his case, Mahoney must overcome our prejudice against the truth and relevance of the statesman's view of morality and politics. Mahoney succeeds wonderfully.
  —The Weekly Standard
• On the crucial distinction between legality and legitimacy, on the constant tensions between the need for heroic leadership and the imperatives of modern democracy as well as between the call of national grandeur and the humdrum concerns and multiple divisions of contemporary society, on de Gaulle's attempt to reconcile the primacy of the nation with his vision of a confederal Europe, Mahoney is both perceptive and eloquent. His emphasis on the Catholic dimension of de Gaulle, on the influence of Charles Péguy (rather than Nietzsche), and his remarks on the similarities between de Gaulle's thought and the ideas of de Tocqueville and Weber are particularly welcome.
  —Foreign Affairs
• Daniel J. Mahoney's scholarship allies itself with civic virtue in a world not conspicuously receptive to it....He has now written the best first book to read on Charles de Gaulle....Mahoney is a new kind of American scholar, one who views grandeur without malice, one who can see it in de Gaulle.
  —Interpretation
• Mahoney's book...is a seminal contribution to providing a more balanced account of the "grandeur within liberty" that characterized de Gaulle's political deliberation and endeavor, and will be useful for students and academics pursuing studies on the relationship between democracy and authority. By showing that de Gaulle was not merely an irrational and temperamental tyrant, but acted on doctrines systematically envisioned. Mahoney adds to a greater understanding both of de Gaulle and of political leadership.
  —Perspectives on Political Science

• Endorsement From from the foreword by Pierre Manent
  École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales: One of Daniel Mahoney's great merits is to reconstitute, on the basis of de Gaulle's writings, de Gaulle's view of the whole, of politics and of the human condition in general. He shows in a convincing manner that, contrary to a reproach often leveled against him, de Gaulle was not at all "Nietzschean."...I admire the fact that Daniel Mahoney--who already has published a remarkable work on Raymond Aron--understands French things so well. I admire even more the power of the work, the fertile passion and the intelligence with which he strives to comprehend the human meaning of politics.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword by Pierre Manent
• Introduction: The Thought and Action of Charles de Gaulle
• De Gaulle's Idea of France
• "The Man of Character" as "Born Protector": Magnanimity, Justice, and Moderation in de Gaulle's The Edge of the Sword
• De Gaulle's "Mission" and the Legitimacy of Free France
• Democracy, Greatness, and Civilization: De Gaulle and a "Certain Conception of Man"
• De Gaulle's Constitutional Correction: Executive Power and the Theory and Practice of Modern Republicanism
• The Unity of Europe and the Greatness of France: De Gaulle's Vision of a Europe of Nations
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index