Vice President of the Council of Minister
Vice-président du Conseil des ministres
Government of France
Status
Member ofCouncil of Ministers
Reports toPrime Minister (President of the Council)
NominatorPrime Minister
AppointerPresident
Formation2 September 1871 (1871-09-02)
First holderJules Armand Dufaure
Final holderGuy Mollet
Abolished28 May 1958 (1958-05-28)

The deputy prime minister of France is a position which existed at times in the government of France between 1871 and 1958. It was titled vice president of the Council of Ministers (French: vice-président du Conseil des ministres), or vice president of the Council for short.

It was in itself a sinecure, used to grant seniority immediately after the prime minister to one important member of the government, later up to three at the same time, but without specific duty or power, or any role as designated acting prime minister. However, in 1871–1876 and 1940–1942, it was actually used for the de facto prime minister, as the position was nominally held by the head of state.

Position

As deputy

The position of deputy prime minister existed only occasionally during the Third Republic (1870–1940, starting only in the 1910s), the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946), and the Fourth Republic (1946–1958).

As for all other members of the government, the appointment, or removal, was formally by the head of state, but bowing to the decision of the prime minister.

Although it implied a role of deputy head of government, the position was in itself a sinecure, which brought seniority right after the prime minister (president of the Council), but came without any specific duty or power unless arranged by separate decisions, or any role as designated acting prime minister. The holder sometimes concurrently served as minister for a specific government department, as did the prime minister at the end of the Third Republic, but was otherwise a top-ranking minister without portfolio, with informal responsibilities. A responsibility was however directly assigned to the vice presidency on two occasions, in 1938–1940 when Camille Chautemps was put in charge of coordination of the recently established Office of the Prime Minister,[1] and in 1951 when Guy Mollet was in charge of the Council of Europe. There was initially only one holder at a time, while a position of minister of state, which ranked higher than ordinary ministers, could be granted to several members, also with or without portfolio; there were however up to three vice presidencies in later governments.

Depending on the political situation, it could reflect the personal standing of the holder, especially if he was a former prime minister, or his role as leader or representative of an important party of the government combination, especially for the two junior parties of the tripartisme in 1946–1947. Positions of minister of state were already used for the same purpose since the 19th century; deputy prime ministers ranked above these when both existed at the same time, making it possible for the prime minister to draw up a subtle order of seniority.[2]

The first holder was Aristide Briand in 1914, chosen at the start of World War I by René Viviani; as the government had partially transferred from Paris to Bordeaux, this enabled him to deputize for Vivani, or for the foreign and war ministers, when they came and went between the two cities.[3] Viviani was also the first prime minister not holding a specific portfolio in order to concentrate on the coordination of an expanding state apparatus.[4] The last was Guy Mollet in 1958.

An equivalent position had also existed in a provisional government, the Government of National Defence (1870–1871), which had a vice president (vice-président du Gouvernement de la défense nationale).

As head of government

In two short periods, the title was however used for the de facto head of government himself, because the head of state formally held the position of prime minister as well.

In 1871, for lack of a permanent constitution, Adolphe Thiers was installed as chief executive of the French Republic in February; while the Rivet Law granted him the title of president of the Republic in August, this was in compensation for a restriction of his powers by the National Assembly, under which ministers were made responsible to the assembly. As he wanted to maintain a direct involvement in government business and kept the additional position of prime minister, the minister to whom he delegated the leadership of the quasi-national government formed in February on 2 September, the minister of justice Jules Armand Dufaure, received the title of vice president of the Council.[lower-alpha 1][5] His successor Patrice de MacMahon left a larger degree of autonomy to his deputy. After republicans won the 1876 legislative election, MacMahon, a monarchist, accepted to appoint a republican ministry, but on 9 March transferred the title of president of the Council to its leader, Dufaure again,[lower-alpha 2] in order to stress that he took no responsibility for it.[6] In his government statement, Dufaure defined his new position by declaring that he had been “chosen by the President of the Republic to exercise in his name the powers conferred on him by the Constitution”.[lower-alpha 3]

At the start of the Vichy Regime (1940–1944), Philippe Pétain, the last prime minister of the Third Republic who proclaimed himself head of the French State, made Pierre Laval the leading minister when he re-appointed him as his deputy.[lower-alpha 4] Pétain dismissed and replaced Laval a few months later, but he was eventually forced by the German occupation authorities to recall him with increased prerogatives in April 1942, upon which he granted him the title of head of the Government (chef du gouvernement), even though he himself nominally kept the title of president of the Council.[7][8]

List

Holder and concurrent position Government Term of office Party
Third Republic (1870–1940)

1870–1871

1870–1871 (vice president of the Government of National Defence)
Jules Favre
Minister of Foreign Affairs		 National
Defence		 4 September 1870 13 February 1871 Moderate
Republicans

1871–1876

1871–1876

1876–1940

1876–1940
Aristide Briand[lower-greek 1][lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3]
Minister of Justice		 2nd Viviani 26 August 1914 29 October 1915 PRS
René Viviani[lower-greek 1][lower-greek 4]
Minister of Justice		 5th Briand 29 October 1915 12 December 1916 PRS
Position in abeyance
Joseph Caillaux[lower-greek 2]
Minister of Finance		 10th Briand 23 June 1926 23 July 1926 Radical
Position in abeyance
Lucien Hubert[lower-greek 1]
Minister of Justice		 1st Tardieu 3 November 1929 24 February 1930 Radical
Position in abeyance
Paul Reynaud (1st)
Minister of Justice and for the Control of Public Administrations		 3rd Tardieu 20 February 1932 3 June 1932 AD
Position in abeyance
Albert Dalimier
Minister of Justice		 1st Sarraut 26 October 1933 24 November 1933 Radical
Position in abeyance
Édouard Daladier (1st)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of National Defence and War		 1st Blum 4 June 1936 21 June 1937 Radical[lower-greek 5]
Léon Blum (1st)[lower-greek 4]
 3rd Chautemps 23 June 1937 14 January 1938 SFIO
Édouard Daladier (2nd–3rd)[lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3]
Minister of National Defence and War		 4th Chautemps, 2nd Blum 18 January 1938 8 April 1938 Radical[lower-greek 5]
Camille Chautemps (1st)[lower-greek 2]
In charge of coordination of the Office of the Prime Minister		 3rd Daladier 10 April 1938 20 March 1940 Radical
Camille Chautemps (2nd)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of Coordination (of the Office of the Prime Minister)		 Reynaud 21 March 1940 16 June 1940 Radical
Philippe Pétain[lower-greek 3]
Minister of State		 18 May 1940
(joined)		 Independent
Camille Chautemps (3rd)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of State		 Pétain 16 June 1940 11 July 1940 Radical
Pierre Laval (1st)
Minister of State		 23 June 1940
(joined)		 Independent
Vichy Regime (1940–1944)
Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946)[lower-greek 6]
Francisque Gay
 Gouin 26 January 1946 12 June 1946 MRP
Maurice Thorez (1st)
 PCF[lower-greek 5]
Félix Gouin[lower-greek 4] 1st Bidault 24 June 1946 28 November 1946 SFIO
Maurice Thorez (2nd)
 PCF[lower-greek 5]
Fourth Republic (1946–1958)
Pierre-Henri Teitgen (1st)
Minister of State (from 4 May: in charge of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform)		 1st Ramadier 22 January 1947 21 October 1947 MRP
Maurice Thorez (3rd)
Minister of State		 4 May 1947
(dismissed)		 PCF[lower-greek 5]
Position in abeyance
Pierre-Henri Teitgen (2nd) Marie 26 July 1948 28 August 1948 MRP
Léon Blum (2nd)[lower-greek 2] SFIO
André Marie (1st)[lower-greek 4] 2nd Schuman 5 September 1948 11 September 1948 Radical
André Marie (2nd)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of Justice		 1st Queuille 11 September 1948 13 February 1949
(resigned)		 Radical
Robert Lecourt
Minister of Justice		 13 February 1949
(joined)		 5 October 1949 MRP
Henri Queuille (1st)[lower-greek 4] 2nd Bidault 28 October 1949 7 February 1950 Radical
Jules Moch
Minister of the Interior		 SFIO
Henri Queuille (2nd)[lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3]
Minister of the Interior		 3rd Bidault 7 February 1950 24 June 1950 Radical
Georges Bidault (1st)[lower-greek 4] 2nd Queuille 2 July 1950 4 July 1950 MRP[lower-greek 5]
Position in abeyance
Georges Bidault (2nd)[lower-greek 2] 3rd Queuille 10 March 1951 10 July 1951 MRP[lower-greek 5]
René Pleven[lower-greek 4][lower-greek 3] UDSR[lower-greek 5]
Guy Mollet (1st)
In charge of the Council of Europe.		 SFIO[lower-greek 5]
Georges Bidault (3rd)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of National Defence		 2nd Pleven 11 August 1951 7 January 1952 MRP
René Mayer (2nd)
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs		 Radical
Georges Bidault (4th)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of National Defence		 1st Faure 20 January 1952 28 February 1952 MRP
Henri Queuille (3rd)[lower-greek 2]
Minister of State		 Radical
Position in abeyance
Henri Queuille (4th)[lower-greek 2] Mayer 8 January 1953 21 May 1953 Radical
Paul Reynaud (2nd)[lower-greek 2] Laniel 28 June 1953 12 June 1954 CNIP
Henri Queuille (5th)[lower-greek 2] Radical
Pierre-Henri Teitgen (3rd) MRP[lower-greek 5]
Position in abeyance
Guy Mollet (2nd)[lower-greek 2] Pflimlin 15 May 1958
(joined)		 28 May 1958 SFIO[lower-greek 5]
  1. 1 2 3 Some were not formally granted the position, but are commonly described as having been deputy as a matter of political arrangement: Briand,[3][9][10][11] Viviani,[10] and Hubert.[12] Caillaux was the first to be legally appointed to the position, explicitly included in his appointment decree.[lower-alpha 5]
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Former prime minister.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Formed the next government.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Prime minister of the previous government.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Party leader.
  6. ↑ The title of vice president of the Council of Ministers was used again although the head of government was chairman of the Provisional Government, not president of the Council.

Earlier and later systems

The transfer of the office of prime minister to Camille Chautemps (l.) from Léon Blum (r.), who went on to serve as his deputy.

The meetings of the Council of Ministers have always been chaired by the head of state (emperor, king, president); when the role of head of government emerged in the late 1810s under the Restoration, the title of “president” of that body came to be used, because it included the responsibility to prepare the agenda and the business to be dealt with.[13] This was however only by convention, and the position or title of head of government had no legal existence until the 1870s; some other ministers were informally considered second-in-command, but were not commonly called vice president.

During the Second Empire (1852–1870), the position of prime minister had been pointedly abolished by Napoleon III, who led government business in person, but the minister of state, who was ranked first and was close to the Emperor, came to be seen as the primus inter pares, especially when speaking in the name of the Emperor in important parliamentary business.

Although the position of prime minister came in legal existence when it re-emerged in the 1870s, the office did not appear in a French constitution before 1946; that of deputy never did.[14]

The position of deputy prime minister (potentially vice-Premier ministre) has never been granted under the Fifth Republic (1958–present). The Constitution simply provides that the prime minister “may delegate certain of his powers to ministers” (article 21). Nicolas Hulot, who served as minister for the ecological and solidary transition with the rank of minister of state in the first year of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, had long publicly called for an position of deputy prime minister in charge of the environment, and said that Macron had considered his elevation, but determined that it would be “not constitutional”.[lower-alpha 6]

See also

Citations

References

  1. ↑ Fessard de Foucault 1972, p. 21.
  2. ↑ Fessard de Foucault 1972, pp. 10, 14, 24.
  3. 1 2 Oudin, Bernard (1987). Aristide Briand (in French). Paris: Perrin (published 2004). pp. 259–260. ISBN 2-262-02192-9.
  4. ↑ Anizan, Anne-Laure (January–April 2014). "1914-1918, le gouvernement de guerre". Histoire@Politique (in French). Paris: Sciences Po (22): 215–232. doi:10.3917/hp.022.0215. ISSN 1954-3670 – via Cairn.info. §12–17 in particular.
  5. ↑ Machelon, Jean-Pierre (1995). "Dufaure Jules Armand Stanislas 1798-1881". In Corbin, Alain; Mayeur, Jean-Marie (eds.). Les Immortels du Sénat (1875-1918). Les cent seize inamovibles de la Troisième République (in French). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. pp. 312–315. doi:10.4000/books.psorbonne.68382. ISBN 2-85944-273-1 – via OpenEdition Books.
  6. ↑ Berther, Jean-Louis (2017). Jules Dufaure. L'homme de la République (1798-1881) (in French). Saintes: Le Croît vif. pp. 274–275, 288, 308–309. ISBN 978-2-36199-557-7.
  7. ↑ Cotillon, Jérôme (May–August 2009). "Les entourages de Philippe Pétain, chef de l'État français, 1940-1942". Histoire@Politique (in French). Paris: Sciences Po (8). doi:10.3917/hp.008.0081. ISSN 1954-3670 – via Cairn.info.
  8. ↑ Baruch, Marc-Olivier (1997). Servir l'État français. L'administration en France de 1940 à 1944 (in French). Paris: Fayard. pp. 334–335. ISBN 2-213-59930-0.
  9. ↑ Unger, Gérard (2005). Aristide Briand, le ferme conciliateur. Paris: Fayard. pp. 291, 304. ISBN 2-213-62339-2.
  10. 1 2 Valentin, Jean-Marc (2013). René Viviani (1863-1925). Un orateur, du silence à l'oubli (in French). Limoges: Presses universitaires de Limoges. pp. 215, 229. ISBN 978-2-84287-596-1.
  11. ↑ Bellon, Christophe (2016). Aristide Briand (in French). Paris: CNRS Éditions. pp. 219–222. ISBN 978-2-271-08952-6.
  12. ↑ Jolly, Jean, ed. (1970). "Hubert (Lucien)". Dictionnaire des parlementaires français. Notices biographiques sur les ministres, députés et sénateurs français de 1889 à 1940 (in French). Vol. VI: H–L. Paris: Presses universitaires de France – via National Assembly.
  13. ↑ Massot 1996, p. 50.
  14. ↑ Massot, Jean (January 1996). "Le président du Conseil". Pouvoirs. Revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques (in French). Paris (76: La IVe République): 45–59. ISSN 0152-0768.

Primary sources

  1. ↑ "Décret qui 1º institue un vice-président chargé de convoquer et de présider le conseil des ministres, en cas d'absence ou d'empêchement du Président de la République ; 2º nomme M. Dufaure vice-président du conseil des ministres". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). No. 245, 3rd year. Versailles (published 3 September 1871). 2 September 1871. p. 3162 col. 1 – via Gallica.
  2. ↑ "Décret qui nomme le président du conseil, garde des sceaux, ministre de la justice et des cultes". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). No. 69, 8th year. Versailles (published 10 March 1876). 9 March 1876. p. 1649 col. 2 – via Gallica.
  3. ↑ Dufaure, Jules (14 March 1876). "Déclaration faire au nom du Gouvernement, par M. Dufaure, garde des sceaux, président du conseil". Annales du Sénat et de la Chambre des députés. Session ordinaire de 1876. Sénat – Séance du mardi 14 mars 1876 (Government statement) (in French). Vol. 1: Du 8 mars au 11 avril 1876. Paris: Imprimerie et Librairie du Journal officiel (published 1876). p. 52 – via Gallica. Quoted by Massot 1996, p. 49.
  4. ↑ "Loi relative à la composition du Gouvernement". Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets (in French). No. 169, 72nd year (Vichy Regime ed.). Vichy (published 13 July 1940). 12 July 1940. p. 4521 col. 2–3. ISSN 0373-0425 – via Gallica.
  5. ↑ "Décret portant nomination du vice-président du conseil, ministre des finances". Journal officiel de la République française. Lois et décrets (in French). No. 146, 58th year. Paris (published 24 June 1926). 23 June 1926. p. 6938 col. 2–3. ISSN 0373-0425 – via Gallica.
  6. ↑ Hulot, Nicolas (28 May 2017). "« Ce ne sera pas un chemin de roses »". Le Journal du dimanche (in French). No. 3672. Interviewed by Cabana, Anna; Dessarts, Rémy; Nazaret, Arthur. Paris. ISSN 0242-3065.

Sources

  • Fessard de Foucault, Bertrand (February 1972). "Les ministres d'État". Revue française de science politique. Paris: Sciences Po. XXII (1): 5–25. doi:10.3406/rfsp.1972.419043 – via Persée.
  • Yvert, Benoît (2002). Premiers Ministres et Présidents du Conseil. Histoire et dictionnaire raisonné des chefs du gouvernement en France (1815-2002) (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN 2-262-01354-3.
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