Key elements in this program were enacted, including the exclusion of the Communist Party from power, closer relations with the United States, and amnesty for Marshal Philippe Pétain's supporters.

[3] The PRL's aim was to unite French conservatives, who had been totally discredited in 1944 due to the numbers of Vichy collaborators in their ranks, and the role they played during the interwar period.

Bernard Frank mocked "this right which suddenly discovered in itself a love for the Republic and liberty."

The party was presided over by Michel Clemenceau (son of Georges), who obtained 60 votes out of 883 during the 1947 presidential election — under the Fourth Republic, the President was elected by members of the two chambers of Parliament, not by universal suffrage.

After numerous internal dissensions, the PRL merged into the CNI in 1951, while some members joined the Gaullist Rally of the French People.