born Feb. 1, 1885, Paris, France
died July 1, 1963, Washington, D.C., U.S.
French politician.
A Radical Socialist, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1919. He served in several cabinet posts and as premier of France in 1930, 1933–34, and 1937–38. As a cabinet member in 1940, he was among the first to suggest the surrender of France to Nazi Germany. He held a ministry in the Vichy government (see Vichy France ) but broke with Philippe Petain 's government after arriving in the U.S. on an official mission. He lived in the U.S. for much of the rest of his life. After World War II a French court convicted him in absentia for collaborating with the enemy.