Ill-health forces French president to resign after only seven months in office

Paris, 22 September 1920 - The President of the French Republic, Paul Deschanel, has resigned his position owing to ill-health.

His resignation comes only seven months after he took up the office – which he secured with a huge majority, succeeding Raymond Poincaré.

His short-lived presidency has been marked by mishaps. In the latest incident, reported by Le Matin newspaper, the president was being driven in a motor car through St Germain Park when he stopped to take a walk. It was some time before he returned and when he did he was drenched; the president could not recall what had happened but it is believed that he fell into a pond.

In a statement issued to announce his resignation, Mr Deschanel declared that his state of health no longer allowed him perform the high functions of the presidency.

He added that the role involved ‘grave duties, which demand activity and energy, rather than weakness’, particularly in efforts to ensure stability in France after the war and ensure that terms of the Treaty of Versailles vital to French interests were observed internationally.

‘The hour has come when I should feel lacking in what I owe you by not resigning my functions into your hands.’

It is understood that Prime Minister Alexandre Millerand has, in spite of initial reluctance, allowed his name to be put forward for the presidency, and his election is considered to be a foregone conclusion.

The man likely to replace Deschanel as President of the French republic, Alexandre Millerand (Image: Le Petit Journal, 1 October 1920. Via Bibliotheque nationale de France)

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]