April 29

George Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger was born in Rennes, France on the 29th in 1837. In the course of time, he would become a major influence in French politics. Like all politicians, he soon became embroiled in a rather sordid web of scandals, scandals that would ultimately lead him to commit suicide in 1891. He was for a time George Clemenceau’s War Minister. After hearing of Boulanger’s suicide, Clemenceau would sum up Boulanger’s life by saying that ‘he died as he has lived: a second lieutenant.’ The phrase ‘damning with faint praise’ springs to mind. As War Minister, Boulanger would begin to reform the army. The one change most appreciated by the soldiers was likely to be the one that allowed them to wear beards.