The president of the French Republic was elected on an indirect basis during the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, as well as at the start of the Fifth Republic.
During the Third Republic and Fourth Republic, the officeholder was elected by a combined vote of the Chamber of Deputies (National Assembly in Fourth Republic) and the Senate (Council in Fourth Republic). At the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the first presidential election was held using an electoral college consisting of members of the French Parliament, general councils, as well as overseas assemblies, mayors, deputy mayors and city council members. Since then, the presidency has been directly elected with two round system.
Third Republic
1873 election
The 1873 election took place on 24 May following the resignation of incumbent President Adolphe Thiers. At the time of the vote, the Legitimists and Orleanists monarchists held a large majority in Parliament over the Republicans and Bonapartists as a result of the 1871 legislative elections.
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Percentage |
|---|
| Patrice de Mac-Mahon | Legitimists | title=Assemblée Nationale – Séance de nuit | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k514329c.item | access-date=13 May 2016 | work=La Presse | date=26 May 1873 | page=2 | language=fr}}''' |
| Jules Grévy | Republican | 1 |
1879 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Jules Grévy | Republican |
| Antoine Chanzy | Military |
| Léon Gambetta | Republican |
| Paul de Ladmirault | Military |
| Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale | Orleanist |
| Gaston Alexandre Auguste, Marquis de Galliffet | Military |
1885 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Jules Grévy | Moderate Republican |
| Henri Brisson | Radical |
| Charles de Freycinet | Moderate Republican |
| Others | 6.42% |
1887 election
Main article: 1887 French presidential election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|
| Marie François Sadi Carnot | Union of the Lefts | 35.69% |
| Jules Ferry | Democratic Union | 24.97% |
| Félix Gustave Saussier | Military | 17.43% |
| Others | 22.39% | 1.02% |
1894 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Jean Casimir-Perier | Moderate Republican |
| Henri Brisson | Radical |
| Charles Dupuy | Moderate Republican |
| Victor Février | Military |
| Emmanuel Arago | Republican |
| Others | 2.59% |
1895 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|
| Félix Faure | Moderate Republican | 31.00% |
| Henri Brisson | Radical | 42.95% |
| Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau | Moderate Republican | 23.38% |
| Others | 2.67% | 1.13% |
1899 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Émile Loubet | Democratic Republican Alliance |
| Jules Méline | Republican Federation |
| Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac | Nationalist Party |
| Others | 3.28% |
1906 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Armand Fallières | Democratic Republican Alliance |
| Paul Doumer | Radical Party |
| Others | 3.30% |
1913 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|
| Raymond Poincaré | Republican Democratic Party | 49.48% |
| Jules Pams | Radical Party | 37.72% |
| Édouard Vaillant | Socialist (SFIO) | 7.27% |
| Others | 5.54% | 1.28% |
January 1920 election
| Candidate | Party | Preliminary Vote | Round 1 |
|---|
| Paul Deschanel | Republican Democratic Party | 49.63% |
| Georges Clemenceau | Independent Radicals | 47.32% |
| Charles Jonnart | Republican Democratic Party | 0.36% |
| Others | 3.66% | 1.51% |
September 1920 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Alexandre Millerand | Independent Centre-Right |
| Gustave Delory | Socialist (SFIO) |
| Others | 2.80% |
1924 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Gaston Doumergue | Radical Party |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party |
| Zéphyrin Camélinat | Communist Party |
| Others | 0.87% |
1931 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|
| Paul Doumer | Independent | 49.06% |
| Pierre Marraud | Left | - |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party | - |
| Aristide Briand | Socialist (SFIO) | 44.51% |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist | 1.11% |
| Jean Hennessy | Republican Federation | 1.66% |
| Others | 3.22% | 1.01% |
1932 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Albert Lebrun | Democratic Alliance |
| Paul Faure | Socialist (SFIO) |
| Paul Painlevé | Republican-Socialist Party |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist |
| Others | 1.29% |
1939 election
| Candidate | Party | Round 1 |
|---|
| Albert Lebrun | Democratic Alliance |
| Albert Bedouce | Socialist (SFIO) |
| Marcel Cachin | Communist |
| Édouard Herriot | Radical Party |
| Justin Godart | Democratic Left |
| Fernand Bouisson | Republican-Socialist Party |
| François Piétri | Republican Federation |
| Others | 4.84% |
Fourth Republic
1947 election
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|
| French Section of the Workers' International}}" | | Vincent Auriol | SFIO | 452 |
| Popular Republican Movement}}" | | Auguste Champetier de Ribes | MRP | 242 |
| Radical Party (France)}}" | | Jules Gasser | RAD | 122 |
| Republican Party of Liberty}}" | | Michel Clemenceau | PRL | 60 |
1953 election
The elections in December 1953 required thirteen rounds of voting before a candidate reached a majority of the vote. The election was eventually won by René Coty of the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP), who had only entered in the eleventh round.
| Candidate | Party | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth | Seventh | Eighth | Ninth | Tenth | Eleventh | Twelfth | Thirteenth | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % |
|---|
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | René Coty | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 71 | 8.07 | 431 | 48.87 | 477 | 54.76 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| French Section of the Workers' International}}" | | Marcel-Edmond Naegelen | SFIO | 160 | 17.24 | 299 | 32.57 | 313 | 33.95 | 344 | 37.47 | 312 | 33.88 | 306 | 33.81 | 303 | 33.33 | 381 | 41.91 | 365 | 40.15 | 358 | 41.29 | 372 | 42.27 | 333 | 37.76 | 329 | 37.77 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | Louis Jacquinot | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 1.54 | – | – | – | – | 338 | 38.4 | 26 | 2.95 | 21 | 2.41 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | Joseph Laniel | CNIP | 155 | 16.70 | 276 | 30.07 | 358 | 38.83 | 408 | 44.44 | 374 | 40.61 | 397 | 43.87 | 407 | 44.47 | 430 | 47.30 | 413 | 45.43 | 392 | 45.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | Pierre Montel | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 103 | 11.33 | 84 | 9.69 | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | Antoine Pinay | CNIP | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 2.75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Radical Party (France)}}" | | Jean Medecin | RAD | 54 | 5.52 | – | – | – | – | 45 | 4.90 | 197 | 22.31 | 171 | 18.90 | 156 | 17.16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Radical Party (France)}}" | | Yvon Delbos | RAD | 129 | 13.90 | 180 | 19.60 | 225 | 24.40 | 42 | 4.58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Radical Party (France)}}" | | André Cornu | RAD | – | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | | 3.81 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Popular Republican Movement}}" | | Georges Bidault | MRP | 131 | 14.12 | 143 | 15.58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rally of the French People}}" | | Paul-Jacques Kalb | RPF | 114 | 12.28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| French Communist Party}}" | | Marcel Cachin | PCF | 113 | 12.18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants}}" | | Jacques Fourcade | CNIP | 62 | 6.68 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Others | 10 | 1.08 | 20 | 2.18 | 26 | 2.82 | 44 | 4.79 | 38 | 4.13 | 31 | 3.43 | 43 | 4.73 | 53 | 5.83 | 28 | 3.08 | 33 | 3.81 | 99 | 11.25 | 92 | 10.43 | 44 | 5.05 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Total | 928 | 918 | 922 | 918 | 921 | 905 | 909 | 878 | 934 | 867 | 880 | 882 | 871 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Fifth Republic
1958 election
Main article: 1958 French presidential election
The 1958 election was the first of the French Fifth Republic and took place on 21 December. It was the only French presidential election by the electoral college (gathering the members of the French Parliament, the Conseils Généraux, the overseas assemblies, and tens of thousands of mayors, deputy mayors and city council members). To win, a candidate was required to receive 50% of the vote. This system was used only for this election, and was changed in the 1962 referendum in time for the 1965 presidential election.
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Candidates
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Parties
! colspan="2" | 1st round
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"
! width="50" | Votes
! width="30" | %
|- style="font-weight:bold"
|
|
|
| % |
|---|
| - style="font-weight:bold" |
|
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Source: List of candidates First round result
|}