[2] His father, Jules Steeg (1836–1898), was a Protestant pastor who became a journalist and then a radical deputy in the National Assembly.

She was the daughter of Gaston Bonet-Maury, a correspondent member of the Institute and a knight of the Legion of Honor, and the sister in law of the government architect Lecoeur.

[3] Théodore Steeg was appointed Minister of Public Instruction and Beaux-Arts in Ernest Monis's cabinet on 2 March 1911.

[3] That year a Tunis congress of Alienists and Neurologists pointed out the lack of facilities for treating the insane in the colonies.

Steeg worked with the Algerian governor-general, Charles Lutaud, to set up a planning commission to improve psychiatric care in the colony.

[10] On 21 January 1913 Steeg briefly resumed the post of Minister of Public Instruction and Beaux-Arts in Aristide Briand's third and fourth cabinets, holding office until 21 March 1913.

He then resumed his seat in the Assembly, where he worked with Maurice Viollette to introduce humanitarian improvements to the Civil Code regarding illegitimate children.

[3] On 12 March 1914 Théodore Steeg ran in a Senate election in the Seine department to replace Athanase Bassinet, who had died on 12 February 1914.

On 20 March 1917 he joined Alexandre Ribot's fifth cabinet as Minister of Public Instruction and Beaux-Arts, where he adopted the law of Wards of the Nation.

[12] Steeg had to deal with a general strike launched by the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) on 1 May 1920 that first called out transport workers, then miners, seamen, dockers, metalworkers and other trades.

[17] In April 1922 President Alexandre Millerand visited Algeria to calm the fears of the French colons about the growth in numbers of Muslim electors, and to assure them that France would continue to protect their interests.

The prefect of Algiers did not want the influential Emir Khalid ibn Hashim (1875–1936) to present his position, but Steeg overrode him.

Khaled told Millerand, "The inhabitants of Algeria without racial or religious distinction are equally children of France ... We come to solicit representation in the French Parliament.

However, Steeg inherited a system in Algeria where the local settler assemblies dominated by wealthy landowners controlled taxation and spending.

[19] Steeg was able to initiate major irrigation projects to improve agricultural productivity, a policy he would later repeat in Morocco.

[21] Steeg supported cooperation between Algerian and French West African (AOF) forces in combating rezzous (Tuareg raids) in the western Sahara, a constant source of insecurity that prevented development of north-south transport routes.

[22] In February 1923 he met in Algiers with his counterparts Marshal Hubert Lyautey of Morocco and Lucien Saint of Tunisia to discuss common problems.

[3] Painlevé needed left-wing politicians such as Steeg, Briand, Caillaux, Monzie and Laval in his cabinet so he could gain support for his program, which was essentially conservative.

[28] On 11 October 1925 Steeg replaced Lyautey as resident-general with the mandate of restoring peace and making the transition from military to civilian government.

[42] Some observers were disturbed by the shift from Lyautey's sympathy for the Moroccans and respect for their customs to Steeg's policy of land expropriation and French colonization, which seemed sure to create mounting hostility between the two peoples.

[43] Steeg favored assimilation of the indigenous cadres into the French administration to avoid competition between the two, which he felt would weaken the government's authority.

[34] His selection of Sidi Mohammed Ben Youssef as the new Sultan in 1927 may have been due to a desire for an inexperienced young ruler who would conform to his wishes.

[45] The effect of Steeg's policies was for the traditional elite to lose power as pastoralists and subsistence farmers left the land to work for wages in the city.

In a report to the Foreign Ministry of 27 December 1927, Steeg said the Union Maghrébine had 1,500 supporters in the cities of Fez, Casablanca and Tangiers.

General Jules Carde of French West Africa was represented by Albert Duchêne, the Director of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Colonies.

However, Moroccan forces were still tied up in what was proving to be a slow campaign to eliminate resistance in the north of the High Atlas.

[50] It was agreed that troops from Algeria and Mauritania could enter Moroccan territory, up to defined boundaries, but without prejudice to Morocco's later taking part in pacifying the western Sahara.

Steeg was Minister of Justice in Camille Chautemps's short-lived government (21 February – 1 March 1930) replacing Lucien Hubert.

He said that the urbanized Jewish settlers would not have the skills needed to work the land, but would engage in small-scale commerce "at the expense of the local economy and the natives.

After the armistice with Germany, at the Congress of Vichy on 10 July 1940 Steeg voluntarily abstained during the vote on transferring constitutional powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain.