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Eugène Rouher (30 November 1814 – 3 February 1884) was a Frenchstatesman of theSecond Empire.
He was born atRiom (Puy-de-Dôme), where he practised law after taking his degree in Paris in 1835. In 1846 he sought election to the Chamber of Deputies as an official candidate of theGuizot ministry. It was only after theRevolution of 1848, however, that he became deputy for the department of Puy-de-Dôme. Re-elected to the Legislative Chamber in 1849 he succeededOdilon Barrot asminister of justice, with the additional office of keeper of the seals[1] (20 December 1848 to 26 October 1851 and 3 December 1851 to 22 January 1852).
From the tribune of the Chamber he described the revolution of February as a "catastrophe," and he supported reactionary legislation, notably the bill (31 May 1850) for the limitation of the suffrage. After thecoup d'état of 2 December 1851, he was entrusted with the redaction of the new constitution, and on his resignation of office in January became vice-president of the Council of State. After the formal establishment of the Empire,Napoleon III rewarded him with a grant of £40,000 and the estate of Cirey.[1]
In 1855 he became minister of agriculture,commerce andpublic works, and in 1856 senator. He created France's excellent system of railways without making them a state monopoly, and he conducted the complicated negotiations for the treaty of commerce with England which was concluded in January 1860, and subsequently arranged similar treaties withBelgium and Italy. On 23 June 1863 he became minister president of the Council of State, and on the death ofAdolphe Billault on 18 October 1863minister of state and chief spokesman of the emperor. before theCorps Législatif.[1]
Although the government had a great majority in the Chamber, the opposition counted the redoubtable names ofAdolphe Thiers,Berryer andJules Favre, and government measures were only passed by frequent resort to the closure. Rouher had to defend Napoleon's foreign adventures as well as the free trade treaties and the extravagances ofBaron Haussmann for which he was directly responsible. After an attempted defence of the foreign policy which had aided the aggrandizement ofPrussia at the expense ofAustria, Thiers told him in the Chamber that there were "no more blunders left for him to make."[1]
He opposed the abortive Liberal concessions of January 1867, announced in a personal letter from Napoleon III to himself, and resigned with the rest of the cabinet, only to resume office after a short interval asminister of finance from 20 January to 13 November 1867. When concessions became inevitable Rouher, the "vice-empereur" resigned to make way after six months' interval forEmile Ollivier. He still fought for reaction in his new office ofPresident of the French Senate from 20 July, to 4 September 1870. After the fall of the Empire he fled to England, but returned to France a year later to work for the fortunes of theprince imperial. After serious disturbances he was elected member forAjaccio on 11 February 1872, his election being characterized by the prefect ofCorsica as a regular conspiracy in favour of the Empire.[1]
In the Chamber, where he subsequently represented Riom, he formed the group of theAppel au Peuple. His first speech in the House was the occasion (21 May 1872) of violent attacks byAudiffret-Pasquier andLéon Gambetta.[1]
In the 1876 legislative elections for the Bastia constituency Rouher won 8,790 votes against 4,367 votes forPatrice de Corsi, and was proclaimed elected on 25 February 1876.[2]
The death of the prince imperial in 1879 put an end to the serious chances of the Bonapartists, although Rouher sought to secure the recognition ofPrince Napoleon, son of Napoleon's brotherJerome, as heir to the Imperial honours. Rouher lost his reason after a stroke of paralysis in 1883, and died a few months later.[1]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1848–1851 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 1851–1852 | Succeeded by |
Cabinet of Alphonse Henri d'Hautpoul (30 October 1849 – 24 January 1851) | ||
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Under the Presidency ofLouis Napoleon | ||
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Cabinet of Léon Faucher (10 April - 26 October 1851) | ||
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Under the Presidency ofLouis Napoleon | ||
| Interior |  | |
| Justice | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Defense | ||
| Navy and Colonies | ||
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| Minister of State | | |
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| Justice | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Interior and Beaux-Arts | ||
| Police | Charlemagne de Maupas (1852) | |
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| Navy and Colonies | ||
| Public Education and Religious Affairs | ||
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| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
Third cabinet of Napoleon III (2 December 1852 - 17 July 1869) | ||
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| President of the Council of State | .svg) | |
| Justice | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Interior | ||
| Police | ||
| Finance | ||
| Defense | ||
| Marine, Colonies and Algeria | ||
| Education and Cults | ||
| Public works | ||
| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
| Beaux-Arts | ||
| Emperor's Household | ||
| Ministers of State | ||
| Ministers without portfolio | ||
Preceded bySecond cabinet of Louis Napoleon • Followed byFourth cabinet of Napoleon III | ||
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rouher, Eugène".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 770.| International | |
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