Editing Paul Doumer (section)

== Career ==
From 1879 until 1883 Doumer was professor at [[Remiremont]], before leaving on health grounds. He then became chief editor of ''Courrier de l'Aisne'', a French regional newspaper. Initiated into [[Freemasonry]] in 1879, at "L'Union Fraternelle" lodge, he became Grand Secretary of [[Grand Orient de France]] in 1892.<ref>Dictionnaire de la Franc-Maçonnerie, page 363 (Daniel Ligou, Presses Universitaires de France, 2006)</ref><ref>Dictionnaire universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie, page 245 (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara, ed. Larousse, 2011)</ref><ref>Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie française (Pierre Chevallier, ed. Fayard, 1975)</ref>

[[File:Paul Doumer-1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Paul Doumer in a photograph by [[André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri]]]]
He made his debut in politics in 1885 as ''chef de cabinet'' to [[Charles Floquet]], then president of the [[Chamber of Deputies (France)|Chamber of Deputies]] (a post equivalent to the [[Speaker (politics)|speaker]] of the House of Commons). In 1888, Doumer was elected Radical deputy for the department of [[Aisne]]. Defeated in the general elections of September 1889, he was elected again in 1890 by the arrondissement of [[Auxerre]]. He was briefly [[Minister of Finance of France]] (1895–1896) when he tried without success to introduce an income tax.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Doumer, Paul|volume=8|page=450}}</ref>

Doumer was [[Governor-General of French Indochina]] from 1897 to 1902. Upon his arrival the colonies were losing millions of francs annually. Determined to put them on a paying basis, he levied taxes on [[opium]], wine and the salt trade. The Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who could not or would not pay these taxes, lost their houses and land, and often became day laborers. He established Indochina as a market for French products and a source of profitable investment by French businessmen.<ref name=Ladenburg>{{cite web|last1=Ladenburg|first1=Thomas|title=The French in Indochina|url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/lesson_plans/pdfs/unit12_1.pdf|website=digitalhistory.uh.edu|publisher=University of Houston|access-date=11 September 2015}}</ref> Doumer set about outfitting Indochina, especially [[Hanoi]], the capital, with modern infrastructure befitting property of France. Tree-lined avenues and a large number of [[French colonial]] buildings were constructed in Hanoi during his governance. The [[Long Bien Bridge]] and the [[Grand Palais (Hanoi)|Grand Palais]] in Hanoi were among large-scale projects built during his term; the bridge was originally named after him. The palace was destroyed by airstrikes toward the end of World War II. The bridge survived, and became a well-known landmark and target for [[United States Air Force|US pilots]] during the [[Vietnam War]].

With a view to annexing south Yunnan to French Indochina, Doumer successfully lobbied the French government to approve construction of the [[Indochina-Yunnan railway]] in 1898.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rousseau |first=Jean-François |date=2014-06-01 |title=An Imperial Railway Failure: The Indochina—Yunnan Railway, 1898–1941 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.7227/TJTH.35.1.2 |journal=The Journal of Transport History |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.7227/TJTH.35.1.2 |s2cid=111066738 |issn=0022-5266}}</ref>

After returning to France, Doumer was elected by [[Laon]] to the Chamber of Deputies as a [[Radical Party (France)|Radical]]. He refused to support the ministry of [[Émile Combes]], and formed a Radical dissident group, which grew in strength and eventually caused the fall of the ministry.<ref name="EB1911"/> He then served as President of the Chamber from 1902 to 1905.

Doumer became Minister of Finance of France again in 1925 when [[Louis Loucheur]] resigned.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul Doumer Has Succeeded Louis Loucheur. Latter Forced to Resign as Minister of Finance. Other Names Mentioned |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/300526602.html?dids=300526602:300526602&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Dec+16,+1925&author=By+SISLEY+HUDDLESTON+By+Special+Cable&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=PAUL+DOUMER+HAS+SUCCEEDED+LOUIS+LOUCHEUR&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104115420/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/300526602.html?dids=300526602:300526602&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Dec+16,+1925&author=By+SISLEY+HUDDLESTON+By+Special+Cable&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=PAUL+DOUMER+HAS+SUCCEEDED+LOUIS+LOUCHEUR&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |work=[[United Press]] |date=December 16, 1925 |access-date=2010-11-13 }}</ref> He then served as [[President of the French Senate]] from 1927 until the [[French Presidential elections under the Third Republic|1931 presidential election]]. He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known [[Aristide Briand]], and replacing [[Gaston Doumergue]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul Doumer Becomes President Of France  |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-johAAAAIBAJ&pg=5164,3939342&dq=paul+doumer&hl=en |work=[[United Press]] |date=June 14, 1931|access-date=2010-11-13 }}</ref>