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Thepresident of the French Republic was elected on an indirect basis during theThird Republic andFourth Republic, as well as at the start of theFifth Republic.
During the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, the officeholder was elected by a combined vote of the Chamber of Deputies (National Assembly in Fourth Republic) and the Senate (Council in Fourth Republic). At the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the first presidential election was held using anelectoral college consisting of members of theFrench Parliament,general councils, as well as overseas assemblies, mayors, deputy mayors and city council members. Since then, the presidency has been directly elected withtwo round system.
The 1873 election took place on 24 May following the resignation of incumbent PresidentAdolphe Thiers. At the time of the vote, theLegitimists andOrleanists monarchists held a large majority in Parliament over the Republicans andBonapartists as a result of the1871 legislative elections.
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrice de Mac-Mahon | Legitimists | 390[1] | 99.74% | |
| Jules Grévy | Republican | 1[1] | 0.16% | |
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jules Grévy | Republican | 84.03% | |
| Antoine Chanzy | Military | 14.78% | |
| Léon Gambetta | Republican | 0.70% | |
| Paul de Ladmirault | Military | 0.14% | |
| Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale | Orleanist | 0.14% | |
| Gaston Alexandre Auguste, Marquis de Galliffet | Military | 0.14% | |
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jules Grévy | Moderate Republican | 79.34% | |
| Henri Brisson | Radical | 11.81% | |
| Charles de Freycinet | Moderate Republican | 2.43% | |
| Others | 6.42% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marie François Sadi Carnot | Union of the Lefts | 35.69% | 74.49% | |
| Jules Ferry | Democratic Union | 24.97% | withdrew | |
| Félix Gustave Saussier | Military | 17.43% | 22.73% | |
| Others | 22.39% | 1.02% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Casimir-Perier | Moderate Republican | 53.00% | |
| Henri Brisson | Radical | 22.91% | |
| Charles Dupuy | Moderate Republican | 11.40% | |
| Victor Février | Military | 6.23% | |
| Emmanuel Arago | Republican | 3.17% | |
| Others | 2.59% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Félix Faure | Moderate Republican | 31.00% | 53.75% | |
| Henri Brisson | Radical | 42.95% | 45.13% | |
| Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau | Moderate Republican | 23.38% | - | |
| Others | 2.67% | 1.13% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Émile Loubet | Democratic Republican Alliance | 58.62% | |
| Jules Méline | Republican Federation | 33.86% | |
| Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac | Nationalist Party | 2.79% | |
| Others | 3.28% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armand Fallières | Democratic Republican Alliance | 52.89% | |
| Paul Doumer | Radical Party | 43.70% | |
| Others | 3.30% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond Poincaré | Republican Democratic Party | 49.48% | 56.23% | |
| Jules Pams | Radical Party | 37.72% | 34.46% | |
| Édouard Vaillant | Socialist (SFIO) | 7.27% | 8.03% | |
| Others | 5.54% | 1.28% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Preliminary Vote | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Deschanel | Republican Democratic Party | 49.63% | 82.66% | |
| Georges Clemenceau | Independent Radicals | 47.32% | 5.97% | |
| Charles Jonnart | Republican Democratic Party | 0.36% | 7.21% | |
| Others | 3.66% | 1.51% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandre Millerand | Independent Centre-Right | 88.92% | |
| Gustave Delory | Socialist (SFIO) | 8.78% | |
| Others | 2.80% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaston Doumergue | Radical Party | 59.88% | |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party | 35.93% | |
| Zéphyrin Camélinat | Communist Party | 2.44% | |
| Others | 0.87% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Doumer | Independent | 49.06% | 56.44% | |
| Pierre Marraud | Left | - | 37.40% | |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party | - | 1.46% | |
| Aristide Briand | Socialist (SFIO) | 44.51% | 1.34% | |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist | 1.11% | 1.23% | |
| Jean Hennessy | Republican Federation | 1.66% | - | |
| Others | 3.22% | 1.01% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Lebrun | Democratic Alliance | 81.47% | |
| Paul Faure | Socialist (SFIO) | 14.67% | |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party | 1.54% | |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist | 1.03% | |
| Others | 1.29% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Lebrun | Democratic Alliance | 55.60% | |
| Albert Bedouce | Socialist (SFIO) | 16.59% | |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist | 8.13% | |
| Édouard Herriot | Radical Party | 5.82% | |
| Justin Godart | Democratic Left | 5.49% | |
| Fernand Bouisson | Republican-Socialist Party | 1.76% | |
| François Piétri | Republican Federation | 1.76% | |
| Others | 4.84% | ||
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent Auriol | SFIO | 452 | 51.19% | |
| Auguste Champetier de Ribes | MRP | 242 | 27.41% | |
| Jules Gasser | RAD | 122 | 13.82% | |
| Michel Clemenceau | PRL | 60 | 6.80% | |
The elections in December 1953 required thirteen rounds of voting before a candidate reached a majority of the vote. The election was eventually won byRené Coty of theNational Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP), who had only entered in the eleventh round.
| Candidate | Party | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Ninth | Tenth | Eleventh | Twelfth | Thirteenth | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| René Coty | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 71 | 8.07 | 431 | 48.87 | 477 | 54.76 | |
| Marcel-Edmond Naegelen | SFIO | 160 | 17.24 | 299 | 32.57 | 313 | 33.95 | 344 | 37.47 | 312 | 33.88 | 306 | 33.81 | 303 | 33.33 | 381 | 41.91 | 365 | 40.15 | 358 | 41.29 | 372 | 42.27 | 333 | 37.76 | 329 | 37.77 | |
| Louis Jacquinot | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 1.54 | – | – | – | – | 338 | 38.4 | 26 | 2.95 | 21 | 2.41 | |
| Joseph Laniel | CNIP | 155 | 16.70 | 276 | 30.07 | 358 | 38.83 | 408 | 44.44 | 374 | 40.61 | 397 | 43.87 | 407 | 44.47 | 430 | 47.30 | 413 | 45.43 | 392 | 45.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Pierre Montel | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 103 | 11.33 | 84 | 9.69 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Antoine Pinay | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 2.75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Jean Medecin | RAD | 54 | 5.52 | – | – | – | – | 45 | 4.90 | 197 | 22.31 | 171 | 18.90 | 156 | 17.16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Yvon Delbos | RAD | 129 | 13.90 | 180 | 19.60 | 225 | 24.40 | 42 | 4.58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| André Cornu | RAD | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | 3.81 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Georges Bidault | MRP | 131 | 14.12 | 143 | 15.58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Paul-Jacques Kalb | RPF | 114 | 12.28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Marcel Cachin | PCF | 113 | 12.18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Jacques Fourcade | CNIP | 62 | 6.68 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Others | 10 | 1.08 | 20 | 2.18 | 26 | 2.82 | 44 | 4.79 | 38 | 4.13 | 31 | 3.43 | 43 | 4.73 | 53 | 5.83 | 28 | 3.08 | 33 | 3.81 | 99 | 11.25 | 92 | 10.43 | 44 | 5.05 | ||
| Total | 928 | 918 | 922 | 918 | 921 | 905 | 909 | 878 | 934 | 867 | 880 | 882 | 871 | |||||||||||||||
The 1958 election was the first of theFrench Fifth Republic and took place on 21 December. It was the only French presidential election by theelectoral college (gathering the members of the French Parliament, theConseils Généraux, the overseas assemblies, and tens of thousands of mayors, deputy mayors and city council members). To win, a candidate was required to receive 50% of the vote. This system was used only for this election, and was changed in the1962 referendum in time for the1965 presidential election.
| Candidates | Parties | 1st round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |||
| Charles de Gaulle | UNR | 62,394 | 78.51% | |
| Georges Marrane | PCF | 10,355 | 13.03% | |
| Albert Châtelet | DVG | 6,721 | 8.46% | |
| Total | 79,470 | 100% | ||
| Valid votes | 79,470 | 97.76% | ||
| Spoilt and null votes | 1,820 | 2.24% | ||
| Turnout | 81,290 | 99.42% | ||
| Abstentions | 474 | 0.58% | ||
| Registered voters | 81,764 | |||
| Official results byConstitutional Council of France. Source:List of candidates · First round result | ||||