Clemenceau, Georges, << `klehm` uhn SOH or kleh mahn SOH, zhawrzh >> (1841-1929), a French statesman, led France triumphantly through the last and most difficult period of World War I. He had earlier served as premier of France from 1906 to 1909. In 1917, at age 76, he became premier for the second time. He exercised powerful leadership with his slogan, “I make war!” and became known as “The Tiger of France.” He presided over the Paris Peace Conference, where he insisted on severe terms for Germany and sought to protect France by creating an independent state out of German territory west of the Rhine River. Clemenceau ran for president of France in 1920 but lost to Paul Deschanel. He resigned as premier the day after his defeat.
Clemenceau was born on Sept. 28, 1841, in Mouilleron-en-Pareds, near La Roche-sur-Yon, France. Trained as a doctor, he traveled and taught for a time in the United States, where he married an American. When he returned to France, he became mayor of Montmartre, a section of Paris. He helped defend Paris against the Germans in 1870. Clemenceau served as a deputy from 1876 to 1893. Clemenceau died on Nov. 24, 1929.
