List of Prime Ministers of France
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This page is a list of French prime ministers. Before 1959, there was no official position entitled "Prime Minister" in the French government. Under the Monarchy, it was sometimes given to the King's principal minister. During the Third Republic, one of the government ministers held the semi-official title of President of the Council of Ministers (Président du Conseil des Ministres), and was unofficially known as the prime minister (premier ministre). Even this was something of a misnomer, as it was the President of the Republic who actually presided over the Council of Ministers. In order to enforce the position, the title became official in 1946, under the Fourth Republic. It was replaced by the official title of "Premier ministre" by the constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1959.
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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
During the First Republic and First 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 articles for details.
- President of the French Republic
- Politics of France
- History of France
- List of Foreign Ministers of France
- List on the website of the French Prime Minister (in French)
