Talk: Antoine Pinay

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I must admit I'm not familiar with the earlier French Republics, but as Premier, wasn't he Head of Government and not Head of State? -- Zoe

Not necessarily, since Pinay was elected as President not as Prime Minister, Primier is pretty much a different way of saying President. The Republic wasn't really early (he served as President during the 5th Republic), but his term as President was short, compared to the lengthy 11-year Presidency of Charles De Gaulle. Longevitymonger

Pinay was never president during the 5th Republic. Before the 5th Republic we had in fact 2 president a "Président de la République" (the real President) and "Président du Conseil" (the Prime Minister). The 5th Republic replaced "Président du Conseil" with "Premier Ministre". This correspond to an evolution from a parlementary constitution to a presidential constitution. Today "Président de la République" can be compared to the "President of the United State" (the French President has less power on the governement and a little more reguarding the parliament) while in the previous Republics the "Président de la République" and more or less the same role that "Her British Majesty". Ericd 13:22 Apr 14, 2003 (UTC)