He began his public career as town councillor at Nérac (1871), and in 1876 that constituency sent him to the Chamber of Deputies. Fallières sat with the left and signed the May 18, 1877, protest against the dissolution decreed by President Patrice Mac-Mahon. He returned to the new Chamber; held a minor office in Jules Ferry's Cabinet (1880–81); became minister of the interior under Charles Duclerc (1882–83); and, then, on Jan. 29, 1883, became premier. Fallières's government lasted only 21 days: he resigned after the Senate rejected his proposed compromise on the expulsion of the pretenders to the French throne. Fallières then held a succession of ministerial posts. In June 1890 he was elected to the Senate and became its president from March 1899 to January 1906, when he became president of the republic. He held the presidency from 1906 until 1913, when he was succeeded by Raymond Poincaré.