命运眷顾勇敢的人

 

戴高乐政治家的本质

the nature of de gaulle’s statesmanship

 

今天的美国人对戴高乐的印象--如果他被记住的话--往往是一个漫画式的人物：

自负的法国领导人，有着宏伟的幻想，永远为现实和想象中的轻视感到委屈。

他常常是他的同僚们的眼中钉肉中刺。

丘吉尔偶尔会对他大发雷霆。

罗斯福谋划着将他边缘化。

在20世纪60年代，肯尼迪和约翰逊政府不断与他发生争执，认为他的政策长期与美国的目标相悖。

 

De Gaulle is often remembered by Americans today – if he is remembered at all – as a caricature: the egotistical French leader with delusions of grandeur, perpetually aggrieved over slights real and imagined. As often as not, he was a thorn in the side of his peers. Churchill occasionally raged about him. Roosevelt schemed to marginalize him. In the 1960s, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations constantly feuded with him, believing his policy was chronic opposition to American goals.

 

这些批评并非毫无根据。

戴高乐可能是傲慢的、冷酷的、粗暴的和小气的。

作为一个领导人，他散发着神秘感，而不是热情。

作为一个人，他激发了人们的钦佩，甚至敬畏，但很少有感情。

 

The criticisms were not without foundation. De Gaulle could be haughty, cold, abrasive and petty. As a leader, he radiated mystique, not warmth. As a person, he inspired admiration, even awe, but rarely affection.

 

然而，在他的政治家精神方面，戴高乐仍然是独一无二的。

二十世纪的领导人中，没有人表现出更大的直觉天赋。

在不少于30年的时间里，在法国和欧洲面临的每一个重大战略问题上，戴高乐都做出了正确的判断，与压倒性的共识相反。

与他非凡的预知能力相匹配的是根据他的直觉采取行动的勇气，即使其后果似乎是政治自杀。

他的职业生涯验证了罗马人的格言，即命运眷顾勇敢的人。

 

Yet in his statesmanship, de Gaulle remains exceptional. No twentieth-century leader demonstrated greater gifts of intuition. On every major strategic question facing France and Europe over no fewer than three decades, and against an overwhelming consensus, de Gaulle judged correctly. His extraordinary prescience was matched by the courage to act on his intuition, even when the consequences appeared to be political suicide. His career validated the Roman maxim that fortune favors the brave.