Albert Rivière was born on 24 April 1891 in the village of Le Grand-Bourg, Creuse, son of an artisan shoemaker.

He was a member of committees on the Army, Pensions, Regulation and Foreign Affairs, and was on the Commission of Inquiry into the 6 February 1934 crisis.

[3] During World War II (1939–45), on 21 March 1940 Rivière was named minister of Veterans and Pensioners in the cabinet of Paul Reynaud.

[3] After the German invasion of France and collapse of the French defense, Marshal Philippe Pétain offered Rivière a position in his cabinet on 16 June 1940.

Rivière consulted with Léon Blum before turning the offer down on the basis that he did not want to join a government that was planning to sign an armistice.

On 10 July 1940, he voted in favour of granting the cabinet presided by Marchal Philippe Pétain authority to draw up a new constitution, thereby effectively ending the French Third Republic and establishing Vichy France.

He hosted Robert Lazurick, a former deputy for Cher of Jewish origin, founder of the clandestine journal L'Aurore.