René Pleven (April 1901 - January 13, 1993) was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant to be a successor to the wartime Resistance movement. He served as prime minister several times in the early 1950s, where his most notable contribution was the introduction of the Pleven Plan , which called for a European Defense Community between France, Italy, West Germany, and the Benelux countries.

Pleven's First Ministry, 12 July 1950 - 10 March 1951

• René Pleven - President of the Council
• Robert Schuman - Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Guy Mollet - Minister for the Council of Europe
• Jules Moch - Minister of National Defense
• Henri Queuille - Minister of the Interior
• Maurice Petsche - Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
• Edgar Faure - Minister of Budget
• Jean-Marie Louvel - Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Paul Bacon - Minister of Labour and Social Security
• René Mayer - Minister of Justice
• Gaston Defferre - Minister of Merchant Marine
• Pierre-Olivier Lapie - Minister of National Education
• Louis Jacquinot - Minister of Veterans and War Victims
• Pierre Pflimlin - Minister of Agriculture
• François Mitterrand - Minister of Overseas France
• Antoine Pinay - Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
• Pierre Schneiter - Minister of Public Health and Population
• Eugène Claudius-Petit - Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
• Charles Brune - Minister of Posts
• Albert Gazier - Minister of Information
• Jean Letourneau - Minister of Relations with Partner States
• Paul Giacobbi - Minister without Portfolio

Pleven's Second Ministry, 11 August 1951 - 20 January 1952

• René Pleven - President of the Council
• Georges Bidault - Vice President of the Council and Minister of National Defense
• René Mayer - Vice President of the Council and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs
• Robert Schuman - Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Charles Brune - Minister of the Interior
• Pierre Courant - Minister of Budget
• Jean-Marie Louvel - Minister of Industry
• Paul Bacon - Minister of Labour and Social Security
• Edgar Faure - Minister of Justice
• André Morice - Minister of Merchant Marine
• André Marie - Minister of National Education
• Emmanuel Temple - Minister of Veterans and War Victims
• Paul Antier - Minister of Agriculture
• Louis Jacquinot - Minister of Overseas France
• Antoine Pinay - Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism
• Paul Ribeyre - Minister of Public Health and Population
• Eugène Claudius-Petit - Minister of Reconstruction and Town Planning
• Joseph Laniel - Minister of Posts
• Robert Buron - Minister of Information
• Pierre Pflimlin - Minister of Commerce and External Economic Relations
• Jean Letourneau - Minister of State
• Maurice Petsche - Minister of State
• Henri Queuille - Minister of State

Changes

• 16 September 1951 - Minister of State Maurice Petsche dies.
• 4 October 1951 - Joseph Laniel becomes a Minister of State. Roger Duchet succeeds Laniel as Minister of Posts.
• 21 November 1951 - Camille Laurens succeeds Antier as Minister of Agriculture.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
— | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Free French Commissioner on the Colonies
1941-1942 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Hervé Alphand

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
— | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Vice President of the National Committee of the Free French
1942—1943 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
—

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Maurice Dejean | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Free French Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
1942–1943 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
René Massigli

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Hervé Alphand | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Free French Commissioner on the Colonies
{{{years}}} | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
—

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Henri Bléhaut | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of Colonies
1944 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Paul Giacobbi

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Aimé Lepercq | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of Finance
{{{years}}} | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
[[André Philipp|years=1944–1946

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Pierre Mendès-France | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of National Economy
1945 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
François Billoux

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Paul Ramadier | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of National Defense
1949–1950 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Jules Moch

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Henri Queuille | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Prime Minister of France
1950–1951 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Henri Queuille

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
— | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Vice President of the Council
with Guy Mollet and Georges Bidault
1951 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
—

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Henri Queuille | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Prime Minister of France
1951–1952 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Edgar Faure

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Georges Bidault | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of National Defense
1952–1954 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Pierre Koenig

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Christian Pineau | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of Foreign Affairs
1958 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Maurice Couve de Murville

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Jean-Marcel Jeanneney | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Minister of Justice
1969–1973 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Pierre Messmer