Charles De Gaulle
Le Grand Charlot

They don't make 'em like Charles De Gaulle anymore, and many people in Les États Unis d'Amérique don't remember much about him. That's too bad because Charles was without doubt one of the best caricature subjects ever.

Today of course we have the celebrity politician complete with €5000 apparel and €300 coiffured hairstyle (and we're talking about the men!). You'd think our politicians were trying to look like the actors that play politicians on television, for crying out loud. Which, of course, they are.

But in days of yesteryear, politicians didn't have to be particularly photogenic. Most images the people saw were drawings and so could be prettified to make the ugly guys look almost handsome. And no, despite what you read on the Internet, books on political humor, and some national magazines, Abraham Lincoln did not say, "Gentlemen, if I was two faced, do you think I'd have the one I'm wearing now?"

And so we wonder if Charles really said ...

Well, we'll get to that a little later. But for more information there are a few biographies of Charles around and some of them are readable enough, although a bit weighty. So you can learn what it takes to be one of the best subjects for caricature there ever was. And you can learn a bit about Charles if you just click here.