Alexandre Millerand Alexandre Millerand ( ; 1859 – 1943 ) was a French socialist politician . He was Prime Minister of France 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924 . His participation in Waldeck - Rousseau ' s cabinet at the start of the 20th century , alongside the marquis de Galliffet who had directed the repression of the 1871 Paris Commune , sparked a debate in the French Section of the Workers ' International ( SFIO ) and in the Second International about the participation of socialists in " bourgeois governments " . Biography . Early activism . Born in Paris , he was educated for the bar , and made his reputation by his defence , in company with Georges Laguerre , of and , the instigators of the strike at Decazeville in 1883 ; he then took Laguerre ' s place on Georges Clemenceau ' s paper , " La Justice " . He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the Seine " département " in 1885 as a Radical Socialist . He was associated with Clemenceau and Camille Pelletan as an arbitrator in the Carmaux strike ( 1892 ) . He had long had the ear of the Chamber in matters of social legislation , and after the Panama scandal s had discredited so many politicians his influence grew . As member of the executive . He was chief of the Socialist faction ( the Parti Socialiste de France in 1899 ) , a group which then mustered sixty members , and edited until 1896 their organ in the press , " La Petite République " . His programme included the collective ownership of the means of production and the international association of labour , but , when in June 1899 he entered Pierre Waldeck - Rousseau ' s cabinet of " republican defence " as Minister of Commerce , he limited himself to practical reforms , devoting his attention to the improvement of the mercantile marine , to the development of trade , of technical education , of the postal system , and to the amelioration of the conditions of labour . Labour questions were entrusted to a separate department , the " Direction du Travail " , and the pension and insurance office was also raised to the status of a " " direction " " . As labour minister , Millerand was responsible for the introduction of a wide range of reforms , including the reduction in the maximum workday from 11 to 10 hours in 1904 , the introduction of an 8 - hour workday for postal employees , the prescribing of maximum hours and minimum wages for all work undertaken by public authorities , the bringing of worker ’ s representatives into the Conseil supérieur de travail , the establishment of arbitration tribunals and inspectors of labour , and the creation of a labour section inside his Ministry of commerce to tackle the problem of social insurance . The introduction of trade union representatives on the " Supreme Labour Council " , the organization of local labour councils , and the instructions to factory inspectors to put themselves in communication with the councils of the trade unions , were valuable concessions to labour , and he further secured the rigorous application of earlier laws devised for the protection of the working class . His name was especially associated with a project for the establishment of old age pensions , which became law in 1905 . In 1898 , he became editor of " La Lanterne " . His influence with the far left had already declined , for it was said that his departure from the true Marxist tradition had disintegrated the party . He was expelled from the group , and continued to move to the right , being appointed Prime Minister by the conservative President Paul Deschanel . Presidency and later years . When Deschanel had to resign later that year due to his mental disorder , Millerand emerged as a compromise candidate for President between the " Bloc National " and the remnants of the " Bloc des gauches " . Millerand appointed Georges Leygues , a politician with a long career of ministerial office , as Prime Minister and attempted to strengthen the executive powers of the Presidency . This move was resisted in the Chamber of Deputies and the French Senate , and Millerand was forced to appoint a stronger figure , Aristide Briand . Briand ' s appointment was welcomed by both left and right , although the Socialists and the left wing of the Radical Party did not join his government . However , Millerand dismissed Briand after just a year , and appointed the conservative republican Raymond Poincaré . Millerand was accused of favouring conservatives in spite of the traditional neutrality of French Presidents and the composition of the legislature . On 14 July 1922 , Millerand escaped an assassination attempt by Gustave Bouvet , a young French anarchist . Two years later , Millerand resigned in the face of growing conflict between the elected legislature and the office of the President , following the victory of the " Cartel des Gauches " . Gaston Doumergue , who was the president of the Senate at the time , was chosen to replace Millerand . Alexandre Millerand died in 1943 at Versailles , and was interred in the Passy Cemetery .