List of Presidents of France

France

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Politics and government of
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First French Republic (1792-1804)

Second French Republic (1848-1852)

President of the Provisional Government of the Republic

President of the National Constituent Assembly

Chairman of the Executive Commission

President of the National Constituent Assembly

Chief of the Executive Power

President

# Picture Name Term start Term end Political Party
1 Napoleon-3.jpg Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte[1] 20 December 1848 2 December 1852 Bonapartist
Elected first President of the French Republic, in the 1848 election against Louis Eugène Cavaignac. He provoked the French coup of 1851, and proclaimed himself Emperor the following year.

Third French Republic (1870-1940)

President of the Government of National Defense

Presidents of the National Constituent Assembly

Chief of the Executive Power

Presidents

# Picture Name Term start Term end Political Party
2 Adolphe Thiers Nadar 2.JPG Adolphe Thiers[2] 31 August 1871 24 May 1873 Opportunist Republican
Initially a moderate monarchist, named President following the adoption of the Rivet law. He became a Republican during his term, and resigned in the face of hostility from the Assemblée nationale, largely in favour of a return to monarchy.
3 Macmahon.jpg Patrice de Mac-Mahon[3] 24 May 1873 30 January 1879 Legitimist
A Marshal of France, he was the only monarchist President of the Third Republic. He resigned shortly after the Republican victory in the 1877 legislative elections, following his decision to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies.
4 Bonnat Portrait of Jules Grevy.jpg Jules Grévy[4] 30 January 1879 2 December 1887 Opportunist Republican
The first President to complete a full term, he was eaily re-elected in December 1885. He was nonetheless forced to resign, following an honours scandal in which his son-in-law was implicated.
5 Mfscarnot.jpg Marie François Sadi Carnot[5] 3 December 1887 25 June 1894 Opportunist Republican
His term was marked by boulangist unrest and the Panama scandals, and by diplomacy with Russia. Assassinated (stabbed) by Sante Geronimo Caserio a few months before the end of his mandate, he is interred at the Panthéon, Paris.
6 Jean Casimir-Perier.jpg Jean Casimir-Perier[6] 27 June 1894 16 January 1895 Opportunist Republican
Perier's was the shortest Presidential term: he resigned after six months and 20 days.
7 Felix Faure.jpg Félix Faure[7] 17 January 1895 16 February 1899 Opportunist Republican
Pursued colonial expansion and ties with Russia. President during the Dreyfus Affair. Four years into his term he died of apoplexy at the Élysée Palace, allegedly in flagrante.
8 Emile Loubet.jpg Émile Loubet[8] 18 February 1899 18 February 1906 Opportunist Republican
During his seven-year term, the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was adopted, and only four Presidents of the Council succeeded to the Hôtel Matignon. He did not seek re-election at the end of his term.
9 Armand Fallieres.jpg Armand Fallières[9] 18 February 1906 18 February 1913 ARD-PRD
President during the Agadir Crisis, when French troops first occupied Morocco. He was a party to the Triple Entente, which he strengthened by diplomacy. Like his predecessor, he did not seek re-election.
10 Poincare larger.jpg Raymond Poincaré[10] 18 February 1913 18 February 1920 PRD-ARD
President during World War I. He subsequently served as President of the Council 1922–1924 and 1926–1929.
11 Paul Deschanel 01.jpg Paul Deschanel[11] 18 February 1920 21 September 1920 ARD-PRDS
An intellectual elected to the Académie française, he overcame the popular Georges Clemenceau, to general surprise, in the January 1920 election. He resigned after eight months due to mental health problems.
12 Alexandre Millerand, 12e président de la République française.jpg Alexandre Millerand[12] 23 September 1920 11 June 1924 Independent
An "Independent Socialist" increasingly drawn to the right wing, he resigned after four years following the victory of the Cartel des Gauches in the 1924 legislative elections.
13 Gaston Doumergue.jpg Gaston Doumergue[13] 13 June 1924 13 June 1931 Radical
The first Protestant President, he took a firm political stance against Germany and its resurgent nationalism. His seven-year term was marked by ministerial discontinuity.
14 Paul Doumer.jpg Paul Doumer[14] 13 June 1931 7 May 1932 Radical
Elected in the second round of the 1931 election, having displaced the pacifist Aristide Briand. Assassinated (shot) by the mentally unstable Paul Gorguloff.
15 Albert Lebrun 1937.jpg Albert Lebrun[15] 10 May 1932 11 July 1940 AD
Re-elected in 1939, his second term was interrupted de facto by the rise to power of Marshal Philippe Pétain.

Acting Presidents

Under the Third Republic, the President of the Council served as Acting President whenever the office of President was vacant.

The office of President of the French Republic did not exist from 1940 until 1947.

French State (1940-1944)

Chief of State

Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944-1947)

Chairmen of the Provisional Government

Fourth French Republic (1947-1958)

Presidents

# Picture Name Term start Term end Political Party
16 VincentAuriol.png Vincent Auriol[16] 16 January 1947 16 January 1954 French Section of the Workers' International
First President of the Fourth Republic, his term was marked by the First Indochina War.
17 René Coty en 1948.JPG René Coty[17] 16 January 1954 8 January 1959 National Centre of Independents and Peasants
Presidency marked by the Algerian War; appealed to Charles de Gaulle to resolve the May 1958 crisis. Following the promulgation of the Fifth Republic, he resigned after five years as President, giving way to de Gaulle.

Fifth French Republic (1958-Present)

Presidents

# Picture Name Term of Office;
Electoral mandates
Political Party
18 Charles de Gaulle-1963.jpg Charles de Gaulle[18] 8 January 1959 28 April 1969 Union for the New Republic
1958, 1965
President of the Provisional Government 1944–1946. Appointed President of the Council by René Coty in May 1958, to resolve the crisis of the Algerian War. He adopted a new Constitution, thus founding the Fifth Republic. Easily elected President in the 1958 election by electoral college, he took office the following month; he was re-elected by universal suffrage in the 1965 election. In 1966, he withdrew France from NATO integrated military command, and expelled the American bases on French soil. Having refused to step down during the crisis of May 1968, he finally resigned following the failure of the 1969 referendum on regionalisation.
Alainpoher.JPG Alain Poher[19]
(interim)
28 April 1969 20 June 1969 Democratic Centre
As President of the French Senate, he served as Interim President of the Republic following Charles de Gaulle's resignation on 28 April 1969. Stood in the 1969 presidential election; defeated in the second round by Georges Pompidou.
19 Georges Pompidou - Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F020538-0006.jpg Georges Pompidou[20] 20 June 1969 2 April 1974 Union of Democrats for the Republic
1969
Prime Minister under Charles de Gaulle 1962–1968. Elected President in the 1969 election against the centrist Alain Poher. Favoured European integration. Supported economic modernisation and industrialisation. Faced the 1973 oil crisis. Died in office of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, two years before the end of his mandate.
Alainpoher.JPG Alain Poher[19]
(interim)
2 April 1974 27 May 1974 Democratic Centre
As President of the French Senate, he again served as Interim President of the Republic following the death of Georges Pompidou. Did not stand in the 1974 presidential election.
20 Valéry Giscard d’Estaing 1978.jpg Valéry Giscard d'Estaing[21] 27 May 1974 21 May 1981 Independent Republicans (1974–1977)
Union for French Democracy-Republican Party (1977–1981)
1974
Founder of the FNRI and later the UDF in his efforts to unify the centre-right, he served in several Gaullist governments. Narrowly elected in the 1974 election, he instigated numerous reforms, including the lowering of the age of civil majority from 21 to 18, and the legalisation of abortion. He soon faced a global economic crisis and rising unemployment. Although the polls initially gave him a lead, he was beaten in the 1981 election by François Mitterrand, partly due to the disunion within the right wing.
21 Reagan Mitterand 1984 (cropped).jpg François Mitterrand[22] 21 May 1981 17 May 1995 Socialist Party
1981, 1988
Candidate of a united left-wing ticket in the 1965 election, he founded the Socialist Party in 1971. Having narrowly lost the 1974 election, he was finally elected in the 1981 election. He instigated several reforms (abolition of the death penalty, a fifth week of paid leave for employees). After the right-wing victory in the 1986 legislative elections, he named Jacques Chirac Prime Minister, thus beginning the first cohabitation. Re-elected in the 1988 election against Chirac, he was again forced to cohabit with Édouard Balladur following the 1993 legislative elections. He retired at the 1995 election. He is the only President elected twice by universal suffrage, he remains the only left-wing President of the Fifth Republic, and his Presidential tenure was the longest of the Fifth Republic.
22 Jacques Chirac.jpg Jacques Chirac[23] 17 May 1995 16 May 2007 Rally for the Republic (1995–2002)
Union for a Popular Movement (2002–2007)
1995, 2002
Prime Minister 1974–1976; on resignation, founded the RPR. Eliminated in the first round of the 1981 election, he again served as Prime Minister 1986–1988. Beaten in the 1988 election, he was elected in the 1995 election. He engaged in social reforms to counter "social fracture". In 1997, he dissolved the Assemblée nationale; a left-wing victory in the 1997 legislative elections, forced him to name Lionel Jospin Prime Minister for a five-year cohabitation. Presidential terms reduced from seven to five years. In 2002, he was re-elected against the leader of the extreme right-wing Jean-Marie Le Pen. Opposed the Iraq War. He did not run in 2007, he retired from political life and returned to the Conseil constitutionnel.
23 Nicolas Sarkozy - Sarkozy meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0299 2007-04-12 cropped further.jpg Nicolas Sarkozy[24] 16 May 2007 Incumbent Union for a Popular Movement
2007
Held various ministerial posts 1993–1995 and 2002–2007. Leader of the UMP since 2004. In the 2007 election, he topped the first round poll, and was elected in the second round against Ségolène Royal. Soon after taking office, he introduced the French fiscal package of 2007 and other laws to counter illegal immigration and recidivism. President of the Council of the EU in 2008, he defended the Treaty of Lisbon and mediated in the South Ossetia War; at national level, he had to deal with the financial crisis and its consequences.

Following the 2008 constitutional reform, he became the first President since Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte to address the Versailles Congress on 22 June 2009.

See also

References

  1. "Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808–1873)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/louis-napoleon-bonaparte-1808-1873.5531.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  2. "Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/adolphe-thiers-1797-1877.5516.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  3. "Patrice de Mac-Mahon (1808–1893)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/patrice-de-mac-mahon-1808-1893.5471.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  4. "Jules Grévy (1807–1891)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/jules-grevy-1807-1891.5469.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  5. "Marie-François-Sadi Carnot (1837–1894)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/marie-francois-sadi-carnot-1837-1894.5413.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  6. "Jean Casimir-Perier (1847–1907)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/jean-casimir-perier-1847-1907.5409.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  7. "Félix Faure (1841–1899)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/felix-faure-1841-1899.5408.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  8. "Emile Loubet (1836–1929)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/emile-loubet-1836-1929.5403.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  9. "Armand Fallières (1841–1931)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/armand-fallieres-1841-1931.5399.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  10. "Raymond Poincaré (1860–1934)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/raymond-poincare-1860-1934.5396.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  11. "Paul Deschanel (1855–1922)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/paul-deschanel-1855-1922.5394.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  12. "Alexandre Millerand (1859–1943)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/alexandre-millerand-1859-1943.5383.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  13. "Gaston Doumergue (1863–1937)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/gaston-doumergue-1863-1937.5373.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  14. "Paul Doumer (1857–1932)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/paul-doumer-1857-1932.5371.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  15. "Albert Lebrun (1871–1950)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/albert-lebrun-1871-1950.5370.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  16. "Vincent Auriol (1884–1966)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/vincent-auriol-1884-1966.5369.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  17. "René Coty (1882–1962)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/rene-coty-1882-1962.5367.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  18. "Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/charles-de-gaulle-1890-1970.5356.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  19. 19.0 19.1 "Alain Poher (1909–1996)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/alain-poher-1909-1996.5329.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  20. "Georges Pompidou (1911–1974)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/georges-pompidou-1911-1974.5319.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  21. "Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/valery-giscard-d-estaing-1926.5316.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  22. "François Mitterrand (1916–1996)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/francois-mitterrand-1916-1996.5312.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  23. "Jacques Chirac (1932)" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/histoire-des-presidents-de-la-republique/jacques-chirac-1932.5308.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  24. "Biographie officielle de Nicolas Sarkozy [Official biography of Nicolas Sarkozy]" (in French). Official website of the French Presidency. http://www.elysee.fr/president/la-presidence/le-president-de-la-republique/nicolas-sarkozy-biographie/nicolas-sarkozy-biographie-officielle.482.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02.