Did Pompidou lack a vision of "the big picture"? Nothing could be less evident. For he was one of the first to predicted that, in the instable world of this fin-de-siècle, the strength and influence of his country, as well as its social balance, would stem from the performance of its economy and industry. Convinced that France couldn't hold its place in the world if it didn't develop and modify its industrial tools, he was inspired to apply this concept of strength dependent on the economy, the franc, and foreign business. Bernard Esamber, one of his collaborators at the Elysée, tells the story of the decisively modernizing "Pompidou Years."