Between 1947 and 1954, Vincent Jules Auriol was the first President of the Fourth French Republic. As President, he was known for helping France and its allies get along with each other. After getting his law degree from the Collège de Revel, he became a lawyer in 1904. Vincent Auriol was a member of the SFIO (French Section of the Workers’ International) and had helped start the socialist newspaper Le Midi Socialiste. In 1914, he became a member of the French Chamber of Deputies, which was his first step into politics. As Minister of Cabinet, he was in charge of things like the Finance and Justice departments. People talked a lot about his decision as Minister of Finance to lower the value of the French Franc against the US Dollar by 30%. Between 1940 and 1943, Vincent Auriol was in prison because he voted against giving Marshal Philippe Pétain, who was in charge of the Vichy regime, special administrative advantages. In 1947, he was chosen as the first leader of the Fourth French Republic. But during his time in office, attacks from other parties were constant because of political disagreements, a weakening economy, and ongoing wars. He didn’t run for re-election at the end of his term, and in 1960 he left politics for good.
Vincent Auriol’s Childhood
Vincent Auriol was born in Revel, France, on August 27, 1884. He lived there for the first 27 years of his life. His parents were a baker named Jacques Antoine Auriol and his wife, Angélique Virginie Durand. He was their only child.
After his first studies, he went on to get a law degree from the University of Toulouse’s affiliated Collège de Revel in 1904.
Vincent Auriol’s Career
After getting his law degree, Vincent Auriol started working as an attorney in Toulouse. He believed in socialism and was one of the first people to join the socialist party SFIO. In 1908, he helped start the newspaper “Le Midi Socialiste” with others. At the same time, he was also in charge of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse.
In 1914, Muret gave him a seat in the Chamber of Deputies as a Socialist Deputy. This was his first step into politics. Until 1942, he stayed in this job.
When the SFIO party broke up in 1920, a new group called SFIC was formed. But he did not join the new party. He was one of the few leaders who worked for the new SFIO party.
Soon after he got into politics, he became a major figure in the party and became the main person to talk about different issues. Beginning in 1924, he was in charge of the Chamber of Deputies’ Finance Committee for two years.
He was elected Mayor of Toulouse in 1925 and stayed in that job until 1942. He was also a member of the Haute-Garonne Departmental councils from 1928 to 1947.
During the time that Léon Blum was Prime Minister, from 1936 to 1937, he was also the Minister of Finance. During this time, though, decisions like lowering the value of the French franc against the US dollar and putting more restrictions on business-led to economic instability.
Because of these actions, Léon Blum gave up his job as Prime Minister. His job was taken over by Camille Chautemps, whose government put him in charge of the Justice Ministry from 1937 to 1938.
In 1938, when Édouard Daladier’s government took over, he went back to work at the Chamber of Deputies. In 1940, he was one of the deputies who voted against giving Marshal Philippe Pétain full administrative powers as head of the Vichy regime. Because of this, he was kept at home until the end of 1942.
In 1943, he was able to join the Free French Consultative Assembly and run for the socialist party. He went to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference the next year and spoke for France. Later, in 1946, he was the first person from France to serve on the Security Council of the United Nations.
He was a representative for Haute-Garonne in the National Assembly from 1946 to 1947. On January 16, 1947, he won the National Assembly elections by a large margin and became the first President of the Fourth French Republic.
As president, he tried to make sure that France and its allies got along well. After World War II and the ongoing Indochina war, however, the economy and government were in bad shape. During the year, there were a number of strikes, and the Communist Party-backed many of them. This led to the party being kicked out of the government that same year.
Vincent Auriol’s time as president was not only hard for France, but it also changed things in the French colonial empire. In 1952, France went to war with Madagascar and put the leader of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba, in jail. The French beat the Sultan of Morocco the next year after he said that Morocco should be able to run itself.
At the end of his term as president in 1954, he turned down the chance to run again, and René Coty took over. He became a senior statesman and wrote articles about politics in the future.
At the start of the French Fifth Republic in 1958, he joined the Constitutional Council of France. In the 1958 national referendum, he tried to get people to vote against the constitution, but he failed.
In 1960, he quit the Constitutional Council because he didn’t like how much power Charles de Gaulle’s presidency was getting. In 1960, he stopped being involved in politics at all.
Works of note
During his time in office, he worked to bring France’s political groups together and made sure that France and its allies got along well. As Minister of Finance, he made the controversial decision to lower the value of the French franc against the U.S. dollar by 30 percent.
Personal History and Legacies
On June 1, 1912, Vincent Auriol tied the knot with Michelle Aucouturier. On September 15, 1918, they had a son named Paul.
He died in Paris on January 1, 1966. He was buried in Muret, Haute-Garonne, after his death.
Estimated Net worth
Vincent Auriol’s estimated net worth is $6 million, and his main sources of income are as a member of the French Resistance, a politician, and a lawyer. We don’t know enough about Vincent Auriol’s cars or his way of life.