In this study of De Gaulle, the author offers an indictment of the shallowness of contemporary politics in the West. He suggests that De Gaulle's disdain for electioneering reaffirms the vocation of political leadership as something other than adapting to popular preferences.

De Gaulle's aloofness from the media and disdain for the base arts of electioneering have an exemplary quality, Debray believes, reaffirming the vocation of political leadership as something other than adapting to popular preferences or allowing professional communicators and opinion pollsters to set every agenda.