France
Georges Clemenceau
1841–1929 Prime Minister and chairman of the Peace Conference
Known as "the Tiger," Clemenceau was 76 when he became prime minister in November 1917 and led France to victory by his sheer will. At the Peace Conference he was the realist among idealists, with no illusions about Germany, and he demanded security: a Rhineland detached from Germany, a demilitarized buffer and heavy reparations. In the end he settled for the occupation of the Rhineland for 15 years and a promised Anglo-American guarantee, which the American Senate never ratified. He survived an assassin's bullet in February 1919, lost the race for the presidency in January 1920, and died in 1929, leaving behind a France that still felt unsafe.