Albert Lebrun
The last President of France's Third Republic, a steady engineer who presided over its final, catastrophic collapse into Nazi occupation.
1871–1950 (age 79)·President of France from 1932 to 1940·Birthday: August 29·The Gilded Age
Biography
Albert Lebrun's career was that of a capable, consensus-seeking technocrat. Trained as a mining engineer, he entered politics with a reputation for diligence and moderation, holding various ministerial posts before his election to the presidency in 1932. His two terms were defined by chronic political instability; France saw 14 different cabinets come and go during his presidency. Lebrun, a constitutional figurehead with limited powers, watched from the Élysée Palace as the nation fractured. The German invasion of 1940 shattered the republic. Forced to accept the appointment of Philippe Pétain, Lebrun effectively presided over the end of the Third Republic. He lived through the war under a form of house arrest, a symbolic prisoner of the regime that replaced the government he led.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Albert was born in 1871, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Albert Was Born
The biggest hits of 1871
Albert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1871Born
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1876Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1884Became a teenager
President: Chester A. Arthur
1887Could drive
President: Grover Cleveland
1889Could vote
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1892Turned 21
President: Benjamin Harrison
1901Turned 30
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 40
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1921Turned 50
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1931Turned 60
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
1941Turned 70
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
1950Died at 79
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
Key Achievements
- Elected President of France in 1932 and re-elected in 1939, serving through the tumultuous pre-war years.
- Served as Minister of the Colonies and Minister of Blockade and Liberated Regions in earlier governments.
- Was the final president of the French Third Republic, a role he held during its dissolution in 1940.
Did You Know?
He was a brilliant student, graduating first in his class from both the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines.
Lebrun was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War I after being captured in 1914.
He was the first French president to travel by airplane while in office.
After the war, he served on the Constitutional Council, the high court he had helped to create.
“A republic is maintained not by laws, but by the temper of its citizens.”
