Charles de Gaulle
The bestselling spy novel The Day of the Jackal and the hit movie it spawned tell the story of an attempt on the life of Charles de Gaulle. While almost purely a work of fiction, it’s far from outlandish. After all, the French leader was the subject of many assassination attempts – more than 30, in fact. But, despite being on the hit list of various groups, including Nazis, North African freedom fighters and even his own side, he survived them all.
Born in 1890, de Gaulle was an old-school career army officer who rose steadily through the ranks. By the time World War II broke out, he was a General and it was he who led the French Resistance to the Nazis while also heading up the country’s government-in-exile. Even though peace returned to his native country, de Gaulle could not stay out of the limelight for too long. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1958 and stayed in office until his retirement in 1969.
It was between 1958 and 1962 when de Gaulle’s life was really threatened. The right-wing OAS, made up of former and serving soldiers as well as other elite members of French society, were opposed to their government’s policies regarding Algeria. To try and derail the political process, they resorted to assassinations, bombings and other acts of violence. And de Gaulle was top of their hitlist. The most famous attempt on his life occurred in August 1962. Riding in a convoy with his wife, de Gaulle was ambushed by terrorists armed with machine guns. The legend goes that de Gaulle kept his cool and ordered his driver to accelerate rather than reverse, getting them through the ambush. “They shoot like pigs,” he is alleged to have said of his would-be killers.
The OAS tried to get de Gaulle several times after that, planting bombs and trying with long-range snipers. However, he dodged every bullet that came his way. In the end, de Gaulle died a peaceful death, passing away in 1970 at the age of 79 at home in front of the TV.