No. 562
Editorial Note
Following the resignation of Antoine Pinay’s government on December 23, President Vincent Auriol extended an offer to Guy Mollet, then Jacques Soustelle, and subsequently Georges Bidault, to attempt to form a government. When their efforts proved unsuccessful, René Mayer was asked by Auriol to try to form a government, a task he eventually succeeded in accomplishing by January 8. Reports concerning the unsuccessful attempts to form a government by Mollet, Soustelle, and Bidault were sent to the Department of State in telegrams 3668 and 3709 from Paris, December 26 and 30, respectively. (751.00/12–2652 and 12–3052) Information concerning the investiture votes of Mayer’s new government was transmitted in telegrams 3776, 3798, and 3851, from Paris, January 6, 7, and 8, respectively. (751.00/1–653, 751.00/1–753, and 751.13/1–853) According to telegram 3850 from Paris, January 8, the only change of major importance in Mayer’s Cabinet was the substitution of Georges Bidault for Robert Schuman as Foreign Minister. It was also noted that the retention of René Pleven, Léon Martinaud-Déplat, and Charles Brune, who were responsible for the anti-Communist program of the Pinay government, gave no reason to doubt that the new government would carry this program forward. (751.13/1–853)