The

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

was elected on an indirect basis during the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, as well as at the start of the Fifth Republic. During the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, the officeholder was elected by a combined vote of the Chamber of Deputies (

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in Fourth Republic) and the Senate (

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

in Fourth Republic). At the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the first presidential election was held using an electoral college consisting of members of the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris: ...

, general councils, as well as overseas assemblies, mayors, deputy mayors and city council members. Since then, the presidency has been directly elected with

two round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

Third Republic

1873 election

The 1873 election took place on 24 May following the resignation of incumbent President

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...

. At the time of the vote, the

Legitimist The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They re ...

s and Orleanists monarchists held a large majority in Parliament over the Republicans and

Bonapartists Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

as a result of the 1871 legislative elections.

1879 election

1885 election

1887 election

1894 election

1895 election

1899 election

1906 election

1913 elect

January 1920 election

September 1920 election

1924 election

1931 election

1932 election

1939 election

Fourth Republic

1947 election

1953 election

The elections in December 1953 required thirteen rounds of voting before a candidate reached a majority of the vote. The election was eventually won by

René Coty Jules Gustave René Coty (; 20 March 188222 November 1962) was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president of the Fourth French Republic. Early life and politics René Coty was born in Le Havre and studied at th ...

of the

National Centre of Independents and Peasants The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans'', CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the ...

(CNIP), who had only entered in the eleventh round.

Fifth Republic

1958 election

The 1958 election was the first of the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. ...

and took place on 21 December. It was the only French presidential election by the electoral college (gathering the members of the French Parliament, the ''Conseils Généraux'', the overseas assemblies, and tens of thousands of mayors, deputy mayors and city council members). To win, a candidate was required to receive 50% of the vote. This system was used only for this election, and was changed in the 1962 referendum in time for the 1965 presidential election. , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Candidates ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Parties ! colspan="2" , 1st round , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! width="50" , Votes ! width="30" , % , - style="font-weight:bold" , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

, style="text-align:left;" , UNR , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Georges Marrane Georges Marrane (20 January 1888, Louviers, Eure – 27 August 1976) was a French politician. He was the candidate of the French Communist Party for the presidential election of 1958. Life and career Marrane became the first Communist may ...

, style="text-align:left;" , PCF , , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Albert Châtelet Albert Châtelet (24 October 1883 – 30 June 1960) was a French politician and mathematician. Biography Châtelet was a student at the École normale supérieure (Paris) from 1905 to 1908, succeeding to the Agrégation (a highly selective comp ...

, style="text-align:left;" , DVG , , % , - , colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - style="font-weight:bold" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , , 100% , - , colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Valid votes , , , % , - , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Spoilt and null votes , , , % , - , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , , , % , - , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Abstentions , , , % , - , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Registered voters , , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" , , - , colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Official results by

Constitutional Council of France The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...

. Source
List of candidates

References

{{French elections Government of France Presidential elections in France Indirect elections