Under this capacity, he was twice briefly acting President of France, in 1969 and 1974 following the resignation of Charles de Gaulle and the death of Georges Pompidou respectively.

A native of Ablon-sur-Seine south of Paris, Poher was a longtime member of the Senate (1946–1948; 1952–1995), where he sat first for Seine-et-Oise until 1968 and then Val-de-Marne.

[3] Previously he was one of Charles de Gaulle's most notable political opponents and played a key role in the successful "no" campaign in the final referendum of his presidency.

Initially, Poher tried to recruit General Marie-Pierre Kœnig as a candidate for the presidency and offered him his full support.

Due to favourable polls, he was viewed as the strongest opponent of Georges Pompidou and the only non-Gaullist candidate who had a real opportunity to win the election.

However, during his tenure he took some major initiatives; notably, he fired longtime Charles de Gaulle confidant Jacques Foccart, a Secretary-General for African Affairs as well as, unofficially, the chief of the Gaullist secret services, who returned to the Élysée after Pompidou's election.

[4] Poher also ordered the directors of France's state-controlled radio and television networks to keep public media politically neutral and refrain from acting in the interest of any particular party.

[4] His accomplishments helped Poher, previously largely unknown to the public, develop significant popularity during his interim presidency, despite his defeat in the election.