1965 French Presidential Election
First direct election5 and 19 December 1965 · Founding the presidency · direct two-round vote
Presidential elections were held in France on 5 December 1965, with a second round on 19 December. They were the first direct presidential elections in the Fifth Republic and the first since the Second Republic in 1848.
President before
Charles de Gaulle
UNR
President (re-elected)
Charles de Gaulle
UNR
Winning share
55.2%
second round
Turnout
84.8%
second round 84.3%
The result
| Charles de Gaulle | Union for the New Republic | 10 828 521 | 44.65% | 13 083 699 | 55.20% |
| François Mitterrand | Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left | 7 694 005 | 31.72% | 10 619 735 | 44.80% |
| Jean Lecanuet | Popular Republican Movement | 3 777 120 | 15.57% | — | — |
| Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour | Tixier-Vignancour Committees | 1 260 208 | 5.20% | — | — |
| Pierre Marcilhacy | European Liberal Party | 415 017 | 1.71% | — | — |
| Marcel Barbu | Miscellaneous left | 279 685 | 1.15% | — | — |