Doumergue, Gaston

Doumergue, Gaston (1863-1937), French political leader, President of France (1924-1931). Doumergue was born in Aigues-Vives to an old Huguenot family. He studied at a state school in Nīmes and then at a law school in Paris. He became a barrister in Nīmes in 1885, and then he was a judge in Indochina from 1890 to 1892 and in Algeria in 1893. Doumergue was elected to France's Chamber of Deputies as a Radical-Socialist representative of Nīmes in 1893. He served as minister of colonies from 1902 to 1905, as minister of commerce from 1906 to 1908, and as minister of public instruction from 1908 to 1910. He was then elected senator in 1910, and he became premier and minister of foreign affairs shortly before World War I. When the war broke out in August 1914, Doumergue again became minister of foreign affairs, but soon changed to minister of colonies, a position he retained until 1917.

Doumergue was elected president of the French Senate in 1923. Known for his impartiality and fair-mindedness, he was chosen in June 1924 to replace Alexandre Millerand as president of the Third Republic after Millerand resigned in the midst of bitter conflicts. When his term was completed in 1931, Doumergue retired to his country house in Tournefeuille. In 1934, however, civil war appeared imminent in France, and Doumergue was called back to Paris. On February 9 he formed a ministry that temporarily restored confidence in the country. He then elaborated reforms to keep politics out of the courts and to enlarge the powers of the government's executive body. There was opposition to the programme, however, and Doumergue withdrew from the political scene later that year.