André Tardieu

André Pierre Gabriel Amédée Tardieu (1876–1945) was three times Prime Minister of France (3 November 1929 – 17 February 1930; 2 March – 4 December 1930; 20 February – 10 May 1932) and a dominant figure of French political life in 1929–1932.

Biography
Tardieu was a graduate of the elite Lycée Condorcet. He was accepted by the even more prestigious École Normale Supérieure, but instead entered the diplomatic service. Later, he left the service and became famous as foreign affairs editor of the newspaper Le Temps. He founded the conservative newspaper L'Echo National in association with Georges Mandel.

In 1914 Tardieu was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from the département of Seine-et-Oise, as a candidate of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance (Alliance Démocratique - AD). He retained this seat till 1924. From 1926 to 1936, he represented the département of Territoire de Belfort.

When World War I broke out, Tardieu enlisted in the army, serving as an infantryman till 1916. He then returned to politics. He served as Georges Clemenceau's lieutenant in 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference and as Commissioner for Franco-American War Cooperation. On 8 November 1919, he became Minister of Liberated Regions, administering Alsace and Lorraine, serving until Clemenceau's defeat in 1920.

In 1926, Tardieu returned to government as Minister of Transportation under Raymond Poincaré. In 1928, he moved to Minister of the Interior, continuing under Poincaré's successor Aristide Briand.

In November 1929 Tardieu himself succeeded Briand as Président du Conseil (Prime Minister), while remaining Interior Minister.

Though generally considered a conservative, when Tardieu became Prime Minister, he introduced a program of welfare measures, including public works, social insurance, and free secondary schooling, and he encouraged modern techniques in industry.

Tardieu was displaced from both offices for ten days in February–March 1930 by Radical Camille Chautemps, but returned till that December. He was subsequently Minister of Agriculture in 1931, Minister of War in 1932, and again Prime Minister (also, this time, Minister of Foreign Affairs), from 30 February to 3 June 1932, until the AD and its coalition partners were defeated in the May elections.

Due this premiership Tardieu served for three (7–10 May 1932) days as the Acting President of the French Republic. between assassination of Paul Doumer and election of Albert Lebrun.

He was briefly a Minister of State without portfolio in 1934.

His later political activity was largely concerned with containing and responding to German expansion.

In his two-volume book La Révolution à refaire, Tardieu criticized the French parliamentary system.

Tardieu's First Ministry, 3 November 1929 - 21 February 1930

 * André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Interior
 * Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * André Maginot - Minister of War
 * Henri Chéron - Minister of Finance
 * Louis Loucheur - Minister of Labour, Hygiene, Welfare Work, and Social Security Provisions
 * Lucien Hubert - Minister of Justice
 * Georges Leygues - Minister of Marine
 * Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
 * Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
 * Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Claudius Gallet - Minister of Pensions
 * Jean Hennessy - Minister of Agriculture
 * François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
 * Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
 * Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
 * Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

Tardieu's Second Government, 2 March - 13 December 1930

 * André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of the Interior
 * Aristide Briand - Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * André Maginot - Minister of War
 * Paul Reynaud - Minister of Finance
 * Louis Germain-Martin - Minister of Budget
 * Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * Raoul Péret - Minister of Justice
 * Jacques-Louis Dumesnil - Minister of Marine
 * Louis Rollin - Minister of Merchant Marine
 * Laurent Eynac - Minister of Air
 * Pierre Marraud - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions
 * Fernand David - Minister of Agriculture
 * François Piétri - Minister of Colonies
 * Georges Pernot - Minister of Public Works
 * Désiré Ferry - Minister of Public Health
 * André Mallarmé - Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
 * Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Commerce and Industry

Changes
 * 17 November 1930 - Henri Chéron succeeds Péret as Minister of Justice.

Tardieu's Third Ministry, 20 February - 3 June 1932

 * André Tardieu - President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Paul Reynaud - Vice President of the Council and Minister of Justice
 * François Piétri - Minister of National Defense
 * Albert Mahieu - Minister of the Interior
 * Pierre Étienne Flandin - Minister of Finance
 * Pierre Laval - Minister of Labour and Social Security Provisions
 * Charles Guernier - Minister of Public Works and Merchant Marine
 * Mario Roustan - Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts
 * Auguste Champetier de Ribes - Minister of Pensions and Liberated Regions
 * Claude Chauveau - Minister of Agriculture
 * Louis de Chappedelaine - Minister of Colonies
 * Camille Blaisot - Minister of Public Health
 * Louis Rollin - Minister of Commerce, Industry, Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones