He was Finance Minister (1938–40), and Prime Minister in the emergency of 1940, but, having appointed Pétain and Weygand, he was unable to carry on the war when these two proved defeatist. He resigned in mid-June 1940. After the war he was Finance Minister (1948) and Vice-Premier (1953) in the Fourth Republic. He assisted in the formation of the Fifth Republic, but later quarrelled with de Gaulle.