Vincent Auriol

Vincent Jules Auriol was a prominent French politician. He served as the President of France from 1947 to 1954. He was the first president elected under the Fourth Republic. This was a new system of government in France. Auriol belonged to the French Section of the Workers' International, known as the SFIO. This was a socialist political party. His leadership occurred during a time of massive global and national change.

Auriol was born in Revel, France, in 1884. His father, Jacques Antoine Auriol, worked as a baker. Auriol studied law at the Collège de Revel. He earned his law degree in 1904. After his studies, he practiced as a lawyer in Toulouse. He was a dedicated socialist from a young age. In 1908, he helped start a newspaper called Le Midi Socialiste. He also led the Association of Journalists in Toulouse. His political career began in 1914. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Muret. He held this position until 1942. He also served as the Mayor of Muret for over twenty years.

As his career grew, Auriol took on many high-level roles. He became a leading spokesman for his party on financial matters. He chaired the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies between 1924 and 1926. Later, he served as the Minister of Finance under Léon Blum. During this time, he made the controversial decision to devalue the French franc. This means the value of the currency dropped by 30% against the U.S. dollar. This caused economic trouble and capital flight. He later served as the Minister of Justice. He also held a role as Minister of Coordination of Services. These roles gave him deep experience in how a government functions.

World War II brought great danger to Auriol and France. In July 1940, he was one of eighty deputies who voted against giving extraordinary powers to Philippe Pétain. This vote was against the Nazi-backed Vichy government. Because of his choice, Auriol was placed under house arrest. He did not stay quiet. In October 1942, he escaped to join the French Resistance. This was a group fighting against the occupation. He fought with the resistance for one year. In 1943, he fled to London. He represented the Socialists in the Free French Consultative Assembly. In 1944, he traveled to the United States for the Bretton Woods Conference. This meeting helped set new rules for global money and finance.

After the war, Auriol helped build the new French government. He was a member of the assemblies that wrote the constitution for the Fourth Republic. He also led the French delegation to the United Nations. In 1946, he was France's first representative on the UN Security Council. On January 16, 1947, the National Assembly elected him President. He won by a large margin. He received 452 votes, which was 51.19% of the total. His opponent, Auguste Champetier de Ribes, received 242 votes.

His presidency was a period of intense difficulty. France faced an ailing economy and political unrest. There were many large strikes by workers. In November 1947, these strikes became violent. The government had to deploy 80,000 army reservists to handle the situation. Auriol also dealt with the Indochina War. At the same time, France's colonial empire was changing. There were many clashes in places like Morocco, Madagascar, and Algeria. In 1951, the Front de Libération Nationale was founded in Algeria. In 1953, the French government overthrew the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed V. Auriol found the job exhausting. He once noted that he was called out of bed at all hours to receive resignations from prime ministers. There were eighteen different governments during his seven years in office.

Despite these struggles, Auriol helped connect France to the world. Under his term, France became a founding member of both NATO and the Council of Europe. He worked to improve relations between France and its allies. When his term ended in 1954, he did not run for re-election. He was succeeded by René Coty. Auriol remained a respected elder statesman for many years. He joined the Constitutional Council in 1958. However, he resigned in 1960 to protest the increasing power of Charles de Gaulle. He died in a Paris hospital on January 1, 1966. He is buried in his home region of Muret.