Francois Hollande Quotes
I gave myself an objective, to be the second president from Correze and finally to be the successor to Francois Mitterrand.
Hollande, François. Victory Speech. Tulle, France, 6 May 2012.
Patton always believed that Eisenhower wanted to be President. At the beginning of the war Patton was much senior to Eisenhower, but President Roosevelt promoted Eisenhower above many more senior generals. Eisenhower thought Patton the best fighting general in the army, but a public relations and administrative problem. Several times when he had gone too far, Eisenhower reprimanded him but kept him in his command position. After the fighting was over, Patton became the military governor of part of Germany and was not as successful at peacekeeping and nation building as he was at fighting. Eisenhower was convinced that Patton would destroy himself and get fired by the army command and the President if he continued as governor. Patton confused Eisenhower’s prudent and politic demeanor with the allies as a lack of courage. And Patton could never get over the fact that Eisenhower and never commanded an army fighting in the field. He was jumped to Supreme Allied Commander, in a very bold and brilliant stroke by FDR who passed over many senior generals.
The President was playing off Barry Goldwater's words a short while before.
This quotation illustrates an interesting phenomenon in American Presidential Politics. There have been Democratic Presidents (FDR and Obama are the most glaring examples) for whom there was vituperative hatred and derision from the conservative Republicans who would frequently refer to them as Socialists and would believe that they were trying to lead the country on the path to socialism. The Presidents always stated that they were opposed to socialism, but to little avail with their conservative haters. But the socialists of the times and even the left wing of the Democratic Party not only did not see them as socialists, but were not very supportive or complementary of their skills and capabilities. Roosevelt reveled in the situation and “welcomed: their hate. Obama was more of a public centrist who tried to avoid the president getting involved in the extreme partisanship of the day.
Roosevelt was such a breath of fresh air as a politician that cynical political journalists saw him as almost a savior of American politics at the time. His dynamic personality, independence from outside influence, and his enthusiasm for reforming the out of control corporate dominated society without destroying the corporations like Bryan and the populists, attracted many who had never before supported any politician.
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande is a French politician who served as President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008 and President of the General Council of Corrèze from 2008 to 2012. Hollande also served in the National Assembly twice for the first constituency of Corrèze from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1997 until 2012.
