ABSTRACT
The collapse of the Fourth Republic proved to be a watershed in Francois Mitterrand’s political career. From being intimately connected with the regime, Mitterrand became an isolated outsider, rejected by old and new alike. Far more than any other event, Mitterrand’s political career was shaped by his confrontation with de Gaulle in 1958. There could be no doubt about Mitterrand’s deeply rooted belief in Republican legality, or that this coexisted within Mitterrand with an unquestionable sense of political pragmatism. The 1965 presidential election was a fundamental landmark both in the history of the Fifth Republic and in the evolution of Mitterrand’s career. Mitterrand finally captured control of the Socialist Party at the Congress of Epinay in June 1971, a momentous event which reflected his status as de facto leader of the Left since the presidential election of 1965, and his gradual rehabilitation after the events of May June 1968.
