Raymond Barre

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Raymond Barre
Raymond Barre
Prime Minister of France
In office
August 26, 1976 – May 21, 1981
Preceded by Jacques Chirac
Succeeded by Pierre Mauroy
Born April 12, 1924
La Réunion
Political party UDF

Raymond Barre (born on April 12, 1924 in Saint-Denis, Réunion). He is a French centre-right politician and economist. He served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 to 1981.

Raymond Barre was initially professor of economics at Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).

From 1959 to 1962, he was director of Jean-Marcel Jeanneney's staff, in the ministry of Industry and Trade. Then, in 1967, President De Gaulle chose him as vice-president of the European Commission. He stayed in Brussels until 1972. Having come back to France, he joined the cabinet as minister of the External Trade in January 1976.

Seven months later, while mostly unknown at that time, President Giscard d'Estaing nominated him Prime minister and Minister of Economy and Finance. He presented him to the French people as "the best economist in France". Under the Fifth Republic, he was the only to hold these two offices. He left the minister of Economy and Finance in 1978, but stayed as Prime minister until the defeat of Giscard d'Estaing at the 1981 presidential election.

At the head of the cabinet, he was faced with the conflict which divided the parliamentary majority between the "Giscardians" and the Neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) led by his predecessor Jacques Chirac. For all that, it won surprisingly the 1978 legislative election.

Besides, he was confronted with the economic crisis. He advocated a strict policy to cut inflation and public spending, and the industrial "restructuring". In the face of trades-union opposition, he did not use diplomatic language. In this, he mocked "the porters of banners" and he exhorted "instead of grousing, you should work hard". He was among the more unpopular Prime Ministers in French history.

After his departure from the head of the cabinet, he was elected deputy of Rhône département under the label of the Union for French Democracy (UDF). He held his parliamentary seat until 2002.

In the 1980s, he competed for the leadership of the right against Chirac. Considering the "cohabitation" was incompatible with "Fifth Republic's mind", he let Chirac take the lead of the cabinet after the 1986 legislative election. He ran as UDF candidate for president in the 1988 election, coming in third behind Socialist President François Mitterrand and Neo-Gaullist Prime Minister Chirac. From 1995 to 2001, he was mayor of Lyon.

Raymond Barre is probably the only French politician to have reached such high levels of responsibilities without having ever been an official member or leader of any political party. He always kept some distance with what he considered to be the political "microcosm".

[edit] Barre's First Government, 27 August 1976 - 30 March 1977

[edit] Barre's Second Government, 30 March 1977 - 5 April 1978

  • Raymond Barre - Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance
  • Louis de Guiringaud - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Yvon Bourges - Minister of Defense
  • Christian Bonnet - Minister of the Interior
  • René Monory - Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Craft Industry
  • Christian Beullac - Minister of Labour
  • Alain Peyrefitte - Minister of Justice
  • René Haby - Minister of Education
  • Michel d'Ornano - Minister of Culture and Environment
  • Pierre Méhaignerie - Minister of Agriculture
  • Jean-Pierre Fourcade - Minister of Equipment and Regional Planning
  • Simone Veil - Minister of Health and Social Security
  • Robert Galley - Minister of Cooperation
  • André Rossi - Minister of External Commerce

Changes

  • 26 September 1977 - Fernand Icart succeeds Fourcade as Minister of Equipment and Regional Planning.

[edit] Barre's Third Government, 5 April 1978 - 22 May 1981

  • Raymond Barre - Prime Minister
  • Louis de Guiringaud - Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Yvon Bourges - Minister of Defense
  • Christian Bonnet - Minister of the Interior
  • René Monory - Minister of Economy
  • Maurice Papon - Minister of Budget
  • André Giraud - Minister of Industry
  • Robert Boulin - Minister of Labour and Participation
  • Alain Peyrefitte - Minister of Justice
  • Christian Beullac - Minister of Education
  • Alice Saunier-Seïté - Minister of Universities
  • Jean-Philippe Lecat - Minister of Culture and Communication
  • Pierre Méhaignerie - Minister of Agriculture
  • Michel d'Ornano - Minister of Environment and Quality of Life
  • Jean-Pierre Soisson - Minister of Youth, Sports, and Leisure
  • Fernand Icart - Minister of Equipment and Regional Planning
  • Joël Le Theule - Minister of Transport
  • Simone Veil - Minister of Health and Family
  • Robert Galley - Minister of Cooperation
  • Jacques Barrot - Minister of Commerce and Craft Industry
  • Jean-François Deniau - Minister of External Commerce

Changes

  • 29 November 1978 - Jean François-Poncet succeeds Guiringaud as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
  • 4 July 1979 - Jacques Barrot succeeds Veil as Minister of Health and Social Security. Maurice Charretier succeeds Barrot as Minister of Commerce and Craft Industry.
  • 29 October 1979 - Jean Mattéoli succeeds Boulin as Minister of Labour and Participation.
  • 2 October 1980 - Joël Le Theule succeeds Bourges as Minister of Defense. Daniel Hoeffel succeeds Le Theule as Minister of Transport. Michel Cointat succeeds Deniau as Minister of External Commerce.
  • 22 December 1980 - Robert Galley succeeds Le Theule (d.14 December) as Minister of Defense.
  • 4 March 1981 - Michel d'Ornano succeeds Lecat as Minister of Culture. No one succeeds Lecat as Minister of Communication.
Preceded by
—		 Minister of External Commerce
1976		 Succeeded by
André Rossi
Preceded by
Jacques Chirac		 Prime Minister of France
1976–1981		 Succeeded by
Pierre Mauroy
Preceded by
Jean-Pierre-Fourcade		 Minister of the Economy and Finance
1976–1978		 Succeeded by
René Monory
Preceded by
Valery Giscard d'Estaing		 Union for French Democracy Presidential candidate
1988 (lost)		 Succeeded by
François Bayrou (2002)


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