Career
He was apprenticed to a tanner, and in about 1862 moved to Le Havre where he became a wealthy leather merchant. Faure fought in the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1881 he was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a moderate Republican. He became undersecretary of state for colonies under Jules Ferry from 1882 to 1885; and remained in the cabinet almost steadily until 1894, when, following President Casimir-Perier's resignation, Faure was elected to the presidency of the Republic. As president he was very popular but took no important part in politics until the last years of his life, when he attempted to block the revision of the Dreyfus case.