The corpus
At the outset the programme was created in order to make up for gaps in the written archives on the Georges Pompidou years, which had either been destroyed or were missing. It meant questioning all those close to Georges Pompidou as well as those who had exercised power during the period in which Georges Pompidou was Prime minister, from 1962 to 1968 and President of the Republic, from 1969 to 1974. It at once became clear that this should be completed by his formative years so as to comprehend not only the rise of the individual and the nature of his relations with General de Gaulle, but also to arrive at an understanding of his different networks most of which were formed before 1962.

For this reason, the corpus, contrary to those of the Comité pour l'Histoire Economique et Financière de la France (C.H.E.F.F), the ministère de la Culture, the E.D.F., or the Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique (I.N.R.P.), is neither based on a function nor a party. Neither is it defined by an ideological line and an activist behaviour, like the oral enquiries carried out by the Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier, called Maitron, ( which does not maintain oral archives). It is, following the example of the Institut Charles de Gaulle, centred on the Statesman.

The programme has in no way a hagiographical vocation as is shown by the recruting of researchers in charge of it, as these are “teacher-researchers”made available by the Education Nationale and who have varied centres of interest. In this way, a corpus such as this is designed in radioconcentric circles : starting from those close to Georges Pompidou (close friends and acquaintances, friends, close associates from the private offices …) and including different echelons of the administration and government (Prime ministers, Secretaries of State, ministers, general secretaries of the government, chargés de mission and technical advisors, members of Parliament, high-ranking civil servants …) and from the gaullist movement (general secretaries of the R.P.F., the U.N.R . and the U.D.R .) as well as decision-makers (such as the president of Banque de France, ex. ­ A. Bergeron ). It was also necessry to take into account the work on the image that all statesmen generate, by questioning press attachés (ex. S. Servais ) and jornalists (ex. J. Ferniot ).

In addition, the symposia oraganised by the Association define new areas of investigation. The symposium “Culture et action chez Georges Pompidou” led researchers to wonder about the cultural policy of the Prime minister and then President and to question the protagonists and witnesses of his cultural policy (ex. M. Druon ). Thanks to the symposium “Un politique : Georges Pompidou” in November 1999, his relations with the opposition parties and the ideas that these had of him were also studied so as to supplement the political information already gathered (ex. M. Faure, P. Mauroy). The recent symposia on “Georges Pompidou and economic changes in the West, 19669-1974” and on “Georges Pompidou's social action and thinking” have contributed to enhancing the programme through more economic interviews (ex. B. Esambert , F.-X. Ortoli ) and more social (ex. : J. Duport, F. Lavondès). Finally, the Association's future symposium will lead researchers in the direction of those who played a role in the field of social policy.

The personality of the statesman is also considered and brings a general colouring to the whole via authentic contributions. Georges Pompidou was an old-boy of the Ecole normale supérieure in rue d'Ulm, a teacher, a literary and culural figure. The corpus must necessarily include his fellows, colleagues (ex. P. Guiral ), oldboys (ex. C. Ducreux ), intellectuals (ex. J Gracq), gallery owners, artists… Georges Pompidou was also director of the Bank Rotschild from 1953 to 1958 and from 1959 to 1962. Bankers, politicians and industrialists also figure in the lists, therefore, independently from the economic policy which he later followed.

The chronoligical limits of the programme are forcibly those of the life of Georges Pompidou, that is to say 1911-1974. The inter-war period, the War and the Liberation even if they do not constitute the essential part of the questionnaires, have not been neglected. On the contrary, they are indispensable to an understanding of the personality of Georges Pompidou, of his rise, and of the way in which his networks were formed.