[5] Laussat was initially only to be the interim head of Louisiana until arrival of the Governor General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte appointed by Bonaparte.

Under an agreement with Spain, Louisiana would not be formally handed over to France until French soldiers could arrive to manage the security of the territory.

He saw in Creole courtesies and effusive welcomes a sense of French pride and identity ready to embrace Bonapartist rule;[10] however, not all Louisianans were eager to see Republican France in control of the city.

Although the handover to the United States was expected to be happen quickly, during the 20 days of his administration, Laussat made several bold moves,[17] including abolishing the local cabildo and publishing the Napoleonic Code in the colony.

To replace the cabildo, Laussat assembled a twelve-member municipal council, made up primarily of wealthy Creoles and two Americans (excluding any Spanish officials), and appointed sugar planter Étienne de Boré as mayor.

The council moved swiftly to reinstate the restrictions on enslaved people originally enacted as part of the Code Noir of 1724.

[5] Though he completed his diplomatic duties as required, the sale of Louisiana and its short circuiting his dreams for a revival of French North America was a grave disappointment for Laussat.

"[20] Laussat's time in Louisiana was marked by conflicts with the Spanish officials he was replacing, as well as machinations by American merchants resident in the territory.

He also never gained the full confidence of the wealthy Creole elite, especially once it was clear the expected troops under General Claude Perrin Victor were not going to arrive.

[27] During the Bourbon Restoration, he served as commandant of French Guiana from 1819 to 1823,[29] during which time he advanced efforts to attract American farmers and settlers to the colony.

Laussat had been impressed during his short tenure in Louisiana by the way Americans had settled the trans-Appalachian region and he envisioned a similar settlement plan for a site in the Kourou watershed.

[36] The Laussat family held at least three people in slavery, including Marie's domestic servant, Solitude, who travelled with her from Louisiana to Martinique and eventually to France.