The president who signed as republican authority collapsed
On 10 July 1940, he promulgated the Constitutional Law without resigning; the presidency passed to Pétain the next day.
Albert Lebrun was a French centre-right republican politician trained as a mining engineer who rose through parliament and ministerial office to become the last president of the Third Republic. Within the narrow head-of-state practice of the Third Republic, he managed cabinet instability and conflict between left and right while possessing little direct executive power. During the military collapse of 1940, he wanted the struggle to continue from North Africa, yet appointed Philippe Pétain to head the government and signed the Constitutional Law of 10 July. He never formally resigned, but that signature and the transfer of power became a central scene in the constitutional rupture that produced Vichy.
Career Timeline
- 1896–1901Mining engineer, Vesoul and Nancy
- 1900–1920Deputy, Briey
- 1911–1914Minister for the Colonies, briefly Minister of War in 1913
- 1917–1919Minister for the Blockade and Liberated Regions
- 1920–1931Senator, then Vice-President and President of the Senate
- 1932–1940President of France, last president of the Third Republic
- 1940Promulgated the 10 July Constitutional Law, transferring power without resigning