In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift (in a similar way to populist parties elsewhere such as Fianna Fáil in Ireland). The current Gaullist party is the Union for a Popular Movement.
Some personalities and voters defined themselves as "left-wing Gaullists" - a view often ascribed to leading Gaullist André Malraux. However, most of Charles de Gaulle's followers were conservative, and after his death, traditional left-wing voters ceased voting Gaullist and figures identified with the Gaullist left such as Jacques Chaban-Delmas were gradually marginalised. Under its various names and acronyms, the Gaullist Party has been the dominant organization of the French right since the beginning of the Fifth Republic (1958).
Read more about Gaullist Party: De Gaulle Vs The Parties (1944-1947), Gaullist Party and Fourth Republic: Opposition and Desert Crossing (1947-1958), Gaullist Party's Height (1958-1976), A Neo-Gaullist Party: The RPR (1976-2002), Secretaries General, Presidents of The RPR
Famous quotes containing the word party:
“Good government cannot be found on the bargain-counter. We have seen samples of bargain-counter government in the past when low tax rates were secured by increasing the bonded debt for current expenses or refusing to keep our institutions up to the standard in repairs, extensions, equipment, and accommodations. I refuse, and the Republican Party refuses, to endorse that method of sham and shoddy economy.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)