17th and last President (1932–40) of the Third Republic. A moderate conservative, he pursued a respected but unspectacular parliamentary career (1920–32) until his election to the Presidency. He acquiesced in the French armistice (1940) that led to the Vichy government of Marshal Pétain. He was interned in Austria (1943–44) until the liberation of France, when he acknowledged de Gaulle as head of the provisional government.