These included Émile Berlia, Albert Bedouce and Antoine Ellen-Prévot The PSD's most famous leader is its founder, Paul Faure, the general secretary of the SFIO from 1920 to 1940.
The PSD rallied the pacifist wing of the SFIO, opposed to intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
On October 16, 1946, the PSD joined the Rally of Left Republicans (RGR).
However, Julien Satonnet was elected to the Council of the Republic under the RGR etiquette in 1946.
A year earlier, Satonnet had won the Chalon-sur-Saône municipal elections, and served as mayor of the city until 1952.