Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated January 9, 1959: De Gaulle is President

General De Gaulle was on January 8 ceremonially installed as France’s 17th President and hailed by ex-President Rene Coty as “the First Frenchman.” A 21-gun salute boomed across the Seine when the 68-year-old former resistance leader became President of the Fifth Republic. The General was elected President on December 21 and took office at the moment when the Head of the Constitutional Commission formally declared the result of that poll. The gold collar of the Legion of Honour was placed round his neck. His new Government, headed by M. Michel Debre, 46-year-old Gaullist Senator and present Minister of Justice, is expected to be announced shortly.

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