When France was liberated after WWII Charles DeGaulle helped reestablish the government and elections, In 1946 he withdrew from all politics in France. Except for a brief period when he helped set up a new political party he kept away from politics and never attempted to be elected to any office. It was’t until 1959 that Charles DeGaulle became the leader of France and even then it was under very unusual circumstances. France was losing it’s foreign empire as countries such those in Indochina were fighting for independence. However many in France were insistent that Algeria remain a French colony despite a growing independence movement. The politicians in France were growing weary of the war and were ready to grant Independence but the military, especially in Algeria were not going to accept this. France was on the verge of civil war with the threat of a coup by the military when it was agreed to ask DeGaulle to become the leader with ‘extraordinary’ powers and no parliament for six months to deal with the situation. DeGaulle agreed and in the next couple years tried to steer a middle course that would eventually lead to Algerian independence but also to appease the military leaders with certain guarantees for France in Algeria. But the independence movements would not bargain which forced DeGaulle to back down as he could see that France was not going to win.  The military was again unhappy and did try a coup to take over but it was thwarted despite some early success in some areas of Algeria. Even after this attempt there were many plans to assassinate DeGaulle over this issue and one came very close to killing him and his wife as the were being driven in their car.

(Book – DeGaulle: The Ruler – Jean Lacouture)