Radical premier brought down by the Stavisky affair who pressed for the 1940 armistice
Born in Paris in 1885 into a family of Radical politicians, he became a lawyer. Starting as a Tours town councillor in 1912, he became a Radical-Socialist deputy and mayor of Tours in 1919 and a senator in 1934. He first became President of the Council in 1930 and formed a second government in November 1933, but the Stavisky affair forced him out in January 1934. In June 1937 he succeeded Blum at the head of the Popular Front government and nationalised the railways to create the SNCF. As Reynaud's deputy prime minister in June 1940 he proposed asking Germany for its armistice terms, stayed on under Pétain, and in November left for the United States, where he remained. Sentenced in absentia in 1947 to five years in prison, he was amnestied in 1954 and died in Washington in 1963.
Activities and affiliations
-
1919–1940
Legislature and state representation
-
1919–1940
Government and administration
-
1924–1940
France state institutionsPresident of the Council of MinistersHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1919–1925Mayor of Tours
- 1919–1934Deputy for Indre-et-Loire, from 1928 for Loir-et-Cher
- 1924.06–1925.04Minister of the Interior
- 1930.02.21–25President of the Council of Ministers
- 1933.11.26–1934.01.27President of the Council of Ministers
- 1934–1940Senator for Loir-et-Cher
- 1937.06.29–1938.03.10President of the Council of Ministers
- 1938.04–1940.07.10Vice-President of the Council of Ministers