French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.

French Algeria, also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War which resulted in Algeria's gaining independence on 5 July 1962.

The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic and colloquially the president of the Republic, is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the position is the highest office in France. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the prime minister and government of France, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the Second Republic.

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969.