Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the president and the founder of modern Turkey, died on 10 November.
İnönü appointed Celal Bayar of the Republican People's Party (CHP) for the second time.
The Second Bayar government was similar to the First Bayar government, but Interior Minister Şükrü Kaya and Foreign Minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras of the previous government were left out of the cabinet, replaced by Refik Saydam and Şükrü Saracoğlu, respectively, both of whom would be the future prime ministers.
In the list below, the cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinet's lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".
Celal Bayar surprisingly resigned on 25 January 1939 with the pretext of the upcoming general elections to be held on 26 March.