List of Prime Ministers of France

Early Modern France

Chief Ministers of the French Kings

*Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu 1624-1642
*Jules Cardinal Mazarin 1642-1661

Louis XIV ruled without a chief minister after Mazarin's death. After Louis' death, his nephew Philip II, Duke of Orléans, regent for Louis XV, directed the government in person before he appointed a prime minister in 1718.

*Guillaume Dubois 1718-1723
*Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans 1723, after his resignation as regent
*Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon 1723-1726
*André-Hercule Cardinal de Fleury 1726-1743

With Fleury's death, Louis XV, like his great-grandfather, announced that he was taking control of policy into his own hands. Later in his reign, he would once again appoint ministers to direct affairs on his behalf, a practice which would continue under his successor:

*Étienne François, duc de Choiseul 1758-1770
*Emmanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon 1771-1774
*Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas 1774-1781
*Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes 1781-1787
*Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne 1787-1788
*Jacques Necker 1788-1789
*Louis Charles Auguste Le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil 1789
*Jacques Necker 1789-1790
*Armand Marc, comte Montmorin-Saint-Hérem 1790-1791

First French Republic (1792-1804)

"During the First French Republic periods the arrangements for the direction of the government of France changed frequently and there was no office of Prime Minister. See the relevant article for details".

First French Empire (1804-1815)

"During the First French Empire periods the arrangements for the direction of the government of France changed frequently and there was no office of Prime Minister. See the relevant article for details".

Bourbon Restoration (1815-1830)

Presidents of the Council of Ministers

Second French Empire (1852-1870)

Cabinet Chiefs

=French State (1940-1944)=

Presidents of the Council of Ministers

Fifth French Republic (1958-Present)

This was the first time when the term "Prime Minister" was used, rather than "President of the Council of Ministers", reflecting the new power-sharing with the President of the Republic, who had before then been only head of state but not head of government.

Prime Ministers

ee also

*President of the French Republic
*Politics of France
*History of France
*List of Foreign Ministers of France

External links

* [http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/fr/p.cfm?ref=15274 List on the website of the French Prime Minister] (in French)