Félix Gaillard d'Aimé (; 5 November 1919 – 10 July 1970) was a French

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

politician who served as Prime Minister under the Fourth Republic from 1957 to 1958. He was the youngest head of a French government since

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Career

A senior civil servant in the Inland Revenue Service, Gaillard joined the

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

and served on its Finance committee. As a member of the Radical Party, he was elected deputy of

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

''département'' in 1946. During the Fourth Republic, he held a number of governmental offices, notably as Minister of Economy and Finance in 1957.

Prime minister

He became Prime Minister in 1957, but, not unusually for the French Fourth Republic; his term of office lasted only a few months. Gaillard was defeated in a vote of no confidence by the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

, in March 1958, after the bombing of Sakiet-Sidi-Youssef, a Tunisian village.

Later political career

President of the Radical Party from 1958 to 1961, he advocated an alliance of the center-left and the center-right parties. He represented a generation of young politicians whose careers were blighted by the advent of the Fifth Republic.

Death

Gaillard was last seen alive on 9 July 1970, when he and three passengers boarded his yacht, the ''Marie Grillon'' and departed the island of Jersey to return to the French mainland after a brief stay. The next day, bits of the wreckage of the yacht were found at the Minquiers reefs, along with the bodies of the two passengers. Gaillard's body was found, along with that of another passenger, floating in the English Channel on 12 July.

Gaillard's Ministry, 6 November 1957 – 14 May 1958

*Félix Gaillard – President of the Council * Christian Pineau – Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d� ...

– Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces * Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury – Minister of the Interior * Pierre Pflimlin – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Planning * Paul Ribeyre – Minister of Commerce and Industry * Paul Bacon – Minister of Labour and Social Security * Robert Lecourt – Minister of Justice * René Billères – Minister of National Education, Youth, and Sports *

Antoine Quinson Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana, ...

– Minister of Veterans and War Victims *

Roland Boscary-Monsservin Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

– Minister of Agriculture * Gérard Jaquet – Minister of Overseas France * Édouard Bonnefous – Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism * Félix Houphouët-Boigny – Minister of Public Health and Population *

Pierre Garet Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

– Minister of Reconstruction and Housing * Max Lejeune – Minister for the Sahara

References

1919 births 1970 deaths Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Deaths from explosion Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French Ministers of Finance French people of the Algerian War Politicians from Paris Prime Ministers of France Radical Party (France) politicians {{France-politician-RPV-stub