Georges Pompidou

Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (1911 –1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968—the longest tenure in the position's history. He had long been a top aide to President Charles de Gaulle.

Pompidou's time in office was marked by constant efforts to modernize France's capital city.

US President Richard Nixon and his top adviser Henry Kissinger admired Pompidou; the politicians were in agreement on most major policy issues. The United States offered to help the French nuclear programme. Economic difficulties, however, arose following the Nixon Shock and the 1973–75 recession, particularly over the role of the American dollar as the medium for world trade.

Young Basques wearing a beret and dressed in traditional clothing offer Georges Pompidou a Basque culinary specialty, in Bayonne, France in 1969.