[1] He was employed at the Messageries Maritimes and supported Gambetta in his election of 1869, even before the fall of the Second Empire.

[2] He served as Minister of War from 21 January 1913 to 9 December 1913 in the governments of Aristide Briand and Louis Barthou.

An experienced businessman, he was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus in Paris and a member of the Railway Advisory Committee.

Eugène Étienne was appointed to the board of the Tréfileries et Laminoirs du Havre (TLH) in 1911, left this position when he became Minister of War in January 1913, then rejoined the board the next year and became president until his death in 1921.

[3] He felt that the future of TLH lay in developing the railways and ports of the colonial empire.