François-Jules-Paul Grévy

Studied law in Paris; after the revolution of 1848 was appointed by the Gouvernement provisoire (Provisional Government) a commissioner for the Jura département; elected to the Assemblée nationale constituante [Constituent National Assembly] (1848-1849); vice President of the National Assembly (5 Feb 1849 - 26 May 1849); elected to the Assemblée nationale législative [Legislative National Assembly] (1849-1851); abstained from politics from 1851 until 1868 as one of the opposition figures; returned to practicing law during the Second Empire; elected to fill a vacancy in the Corps législatif (1868-1870); after the fall of Napoléon III elected to the Assemblee nationale [National Assembly] from Jura (1871-1876); president of the National Assembly (16 Feb 1871 - 2 Apr 1873); resigned under the pressure of the monarchists (2 Apr 1873); elected president again (2 Apr 1876), refused to serve (3 Apr 1873); elected to the Chambre des députés [Chamber of Deputies] (1876-1879); provisional president (8 Mar 1876 - 13 Mar 1876), president (13 Mar 1876 - 30 Jan 1879) of the Chamber of Deputies; following the resignation of Marshal de Mac Mahon elected President of the Republic (30 Jan 1879); favored strong legislature at the expense of weak executive; opposed colonial expansion, but France turned Annam and Tonkin in its protectorate (1883) and sent an expedition to Madagascar (1883-1885); won reelection with overwhelming majority of votes (28 Dec 1885); was forced to resign (2 Dec 1887) because of a scandal over the sale of decorations for the Légion d'Honneur by his son-in-law. Biography source: [3]