His father was made a peer of France in 1827 and became a naturalized French subject by order of King Charles X in 1828.

He was elected as the official candidate of the MacMahon government, winning the poll due to the abstention of republican voters disenchanted with his predecessor.

After Rerum novarum and Pope Leo XIII's recognition of the Third Republic, however, Arenberg changed his rhetoric, campaigning in 1893 as a "liberal republican".

[4] Defeated in the 1902 elections and failing to secure reelection again in 1906, Arenberg retired from politics, but remained active in public life.

[5] A convinced Catholic himself, during 1895 he was one of the organizers of a failed attempt to build a mosque in Paris through private donations.