Clendenin Robertson; Charles De Gaulle Expert

Clendenin Robertson, 91, author and expert on Charles De Gaulle and the Alger Hiss case. A native of Nashville, Tenn., Robertson earned his bachelor’s degree at Yale, master’s degree at Colorado College and doctorate from the University of Strasbourg. Robertson turned his doctoral thesis into the book “The Doctrines of Gen. De Gaulle and the Lessons of History” which even De Gaulle complimented. Robertson’s later unpublished book on the Hiss and Whitaker Chambers case advanced the theory that Chambers was a Nazi spy who aided Hitler in his 1938 invasion of Austria. Staunchly anti-Hitler, Robertson worked as a Red Cross volunteer distributing American-donated food in France before the United States joined the war. He later volunteered, at the age of 37, and served five years as an Army major as a liaison to the French. He was awarded the U.S. Bronze Star for meritorious achievement and the French Legion D’Honneur and Croix de Guerre Avec Palmes. Robertson later taught history, French and English and operated a ranch in Wyoming. On Sunday in Annandale, Va.