11 janvier 1907
18 octobre 1982
Mendès France, Pierre (1907-1982)
Pierre Mendès France fut un acteur plein et entier de l'histoire politique française de la IIIe à la Ve République. Sous la IIIe République, il fut député, maire et conseiller général et participa de façon éphémère à l'aventure du Front populaire, en 1938, sous la houlette de Léon Blum, à un poste-clé : celui du Trésor. La Seconde Guerre mondiale le voit engagé dans les forces armées pendant la drôle de Guerre, puis dans l'épopée du Massilia. Incarcéré par le régime de Vichy, il subit un procès inique fondé sur ses origines juives et sur une prétendue trahison. Il participe bientôt à la Résistance, à Londres, sous l'autorité du général de Gaulle, malgré leurs différences idéologiques. Ce dernier en fit un des piliers du Gouvernement de la Libération. Leur collaboration fut assez brève, en raison de divergences de stratégie économique : Mendès France fut toujours un partisan de la rigueur économique et financière. Sous la IVe République, il fut un radical très actif au plan national comme au plan local, sur le même bord politique que Vincent Auriol, premier président de la IVe République. Ses compétences furent enfin reconnues quand il fut élu président du Conseil en 1954, sous la présidence de René Coty. À ce poste stratégique, il fut le moteur de la décolonisation, tout d'abord en Indochine, puis au Maghreb. Il fut un opposant résolu de la Ve République dès sa création et le demeura tout au long de sa vie et de ses travaux.
Né le 11 janvier 1907 à Paris. Pierre Mendès France devient étudiant à la faculté de droit de Paris. En 1926, sa licence terminée, il s'inscrit au barreau de Paris. Il est alors le plus jeune avocat de France, comme il sera en 1928 le plus jeune docteur en droit. Après avoir animé la Ligue d'action universitaire républicaine et socialiste qui, à l'époque du cartel des Gauches, s'opposa en Sorbonne aux étudiants de l'Action française, il adhère au Parti radical dès 1924 où, avec Jean Zay, Pierre Cot, Jacques Kayser et Gaston Bergery, il fait partie des « Jeunes Turcs », sous l'égide de leur aîné, Édouard Daladier.
Pierre Mendès France tient souvent des réunions locales et entre ainsi, un peu par hasard, en relations avec les membres du Parti dans le département de l'Eure. Ces derniers, après leur échec électoral de 1928, préparent leur revanche et lui proposent d'être leur candidat aux élections suivantes. Comme le Gouvernement vient de rétablir le tribunal de Louviers, supprimé quelques années plus tôt, et que le barreau de la ville ne compte qu'un seul membre, Mendès France accepte tout à la fois, dès 1929, de s'installer à Louviers, d'y ouvrir un cabinet d'avocat et d'y préparer les élections législatives de 1932, à l'issue desquelles il est élu, devenant le plus jeune député de France. Ses activités politiques, son métier d'avocat, ne l'empêchent pas de poursuivre des études économiques. Il collabore également aux Cahiers bleus de Georges Valois, comme spécialiste économique et financier du Parti radical. Secrétaire de ce parti, il prend position en faveur du Front populaire : sous ce drapeau, maire de Louviers et conseiller général depuis 1935, il se représente aux élections de 1936 et, au second tour, est réélu.
Au sein du Parti radical, il défend inlassablement le contrat de majorité passé entre le Gouvernement Blum II et le Parlement. C'est au sein de ce gouvernement, en mars 1938, qu'il devient sous-secrétaire d'État au Trésor. Mendès France est alors, à 31 ans, le plus jeune ministre de France. Mais l'ensemble des conceptions du Gouvernement rencontre l'hostilité du Sénat et le cabinet Blum II tombe le 10 avril 1938.
À l'aube de la guerre, Pierre Mendès France, député de l'Eure, refusant les facilités dont il pouvait bénéficier, s'engage comme lieutenant d'aviation et se trouve en France lors de l'invasion de mai-juin 1940. Il embarque finalement le 20 juin sur le Massilia avec sa famille pour le Maroc, comme militaire rejoignant son unité partie pour le Maroc, pour continuer à se battre. À Rabat, il est arrêté par les autorités de Vichy, puis incarcéré à Casablanca fin août.
Transféré en octobre à la prison de Clermont-Ferrand, déchu de ses mandats électifs en raison de ses origines juives, il est condamné le 9 mai 1941 à six ans d'emprisonnement pour désertion au terme d'un procès inique. Un mois plus tard, il parvient à s'évader et rejoint Londres en février 1942. Après sa rencontre avec le chef de la France libre, il retrouve son escadrille « Lorraine ». Le général de Gaulle l'appelle à Alger en novembre 1943 en qualité de commissaire aux Finances du Comité français de libération nationale. Pierre Mendès France se met au travail, créant notamment la direction du Plan qui deviendra plus tard le Commissariat au Plan.
En juin 1944, il dirige la mission française à la conférence de Bretton Woods et négocie à Washington les parités financières qui seront établies entre le dollar et les monnaies alliées. Paris libéré, Pierre Mendès France, âgé seulement de 35 ans, s'installe rue de Rivoli pour prendre ses fonctions de ministre d'une économie nationale ruinée. Démissionnaire le 5 avril 1945, il retrouve le conseil général de l'Eure, dont il devient président. En revanche, il échoue, le 21 octobre de la même année, aux élections à l'Assemblée nationale constituante, avant d'être élu, le 2 juin 1946, aux élections à la seconde Assemblée nationale constituante.
Il mène aussi une véritable carrière politique internationale : gouverneur du Fonds monétaire international et gouverneur adjoint de la Banque internationale pour la reconstruction et le développement de 1946 à 1958, il est aussi, de 1947 à 1951, le représentant permanent de la France au Conseil économique et social de l'Organisation des Nations-unies. De retour au Palais Bourbon, Pierre Mendès France retrouve la commission des Finances et du Contrôle budgétaire. Vers la fin de cette première législature, il commence à interpeller vivement le Gouvernement sur l'Indochine, se transformant peu à peu en « procureur parlementaire » sur cette question.
Le 17 juin 1951, il est de nouveau député de l'Eure. Le 17 juin 1954, il est désigné comme président du Conseil. Son gouvernement va durer sept mois et dix-sept jours, période brève, sans rapport avec l'ampleur des réformes accomplies et le souvenir laissé dans l'esprit des Français. La « Toussaint sanglante » scelle, à terme, le sort du Gouvernement Mendès France : une série d'attentats marque le début de l'insurrection en Algérie le 1er novembre 1954. Il est renversé le 5 février 1955.
Redevenu simple député, réélu dans l'Eure, Pierre Mendès France s'emploie à rénover le Parti radical-socialiste. L'ancien président du Conseil, doublé par Guy Mollet, devient ministre d'État, sans attributions particulières, dans le cabinet du Front républicain en février 1956. Il en démissionne le 23 mai, abandonnant aussi la direction du Parti radical. Candidat dans l’Eure (Louviers) aux élections législatives des 23 et 30 novembre 1958, il essuie un échec sévère dès le premier tour, dans le contexte du retour du général de Gaulle au pouvoir.
Pierre Mendès France choisit alors de se consacrer essentiellement à la réflexion politique et à l’écriture. Membre du Parti socialiste autonome en 1959, puis adhérent du Parti socialiste unifié l’année suivante, il manifeste son ralliement à un socialisme de « démocratie économique et politique ». Il soutient François Mitterrand lors de l’élection présidentielle de 1965. Les élections législatives des 5 et 12 mars 1967 sont l’occasion d’un véritable retour. Pierre Mendès France accepte de se présenter dans la 9e circonscription de l’Isère. Apparenté au groupe de la Fédération de la gauche démocrate et socialiste [FGDS], il l’emporte logiquement au second tour sur son adversaire gaulliste.
Candidat à sa propre succession à l’occasion des élections législatives anticipées des 23 et 30 juin 1968, Pierre Mendès France est battu par Jean-Marcel Jeanneney avec 69 bulletins d’avance, dans le contexte des événements de mai 1968. Cet échec électoral est le dernier de la carrière de l’ancien président du Conseil. Il décide alors de démissionner du PSU, mais accepte de suivre Gaston Defferre dans son aventure présidentielle, le 1er juin 1969. Mendès essuie, certes non nominalement mais personnellement, un revers électoral mesurable aux quelque 5% de voix recueillies par le maire de Marseille.
La dernière décennie de son existence sera marquée par un investissement personnel important dans l'écriture et un déplacement de ses préoccupations vers la paix au Proche-Orient, la crise mondiale ou la mise en garde d’une gauche française contre les tentations d’ignorer les impératifs de la rationalité, sinon du réalisme économique. L’homme, pour savoir ne plus devoir y tenir une place active, se veut aiguillon et s’espère garde-fou d’une Gauche appelée à gouverner. Ce rêve, dont il se serait sans doute volontiers vu l’incarnation mais qu’il abandonne à d’autres, prend chair dans cette accolade donnée par François Mitterrand le 21 mai 1981 lors de sa cérémonie d’installation. Pierre Mendès France meurt à sa table de travail le 18 octobre 1982 dans son domicile parisien, rue du Conseiller-Collignon.
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