Editing Jacques Laffitte (section)

===Political career===

Laffitte viewed the return of the Bourbons favorably at first. He provided financial assistance for the incoming Louis XVIII (1814–1824) and kept his position as governor of the Bank of France during 1814–1820. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1815 and continued as a deputy throughout the Restoration except for the years 1824–27. Like his fellow elected deputy and banker [[Casimir Pierre Périer]], he took a liberal stance "on the left" and spoke out in the Chamber in support of constitutional monarchy, liberty of the press, freedom of enterprise, competence in state administration and transparency in government financial affairs. As the Bourbon regime became more and more conservative and royalist after 1820, Laffitte became increasingly dissatisfied and outspoken in opposition. With Casimir Perier, he led a spirited opposition in the Chamber in the 1820s against Comte Villèle's handling of the finances of the government's canal construction program. He lost favor in 1825 by voting for Villèle's plan for indemnifying notables for lands confiscated during the Revolution, but regained popular support in 1828 when his daughter, Albine Laffitte, was married to Napoleon-Joseph Ney, the son of the honored Maréchal Michel Ney, duc d'Elchingen, the prince de Moskowa.<ref>Monnier, ''Jacques Laffitte'', pp.188–90. Laffitte was married in 1801 to Marine-Françoise Laeut (1783–1849), the young daughter of a merchant at Havre. Albine-Étiennette Laffitte (d.1881), who became the princess Ney of Moskowa, was the only child.</ref> Things began to go wrong rapidly after Charles X became king in 1824. Fearful of growing liberal and even republican opposition to his government, the king finally acted disastrously in 1829 by installing the ultra-royalist ministry of Prince Jules de Polignac. When the ultra-royalists were defeated in the elections of 1830 the King issued his infamous ordinances of 25 July 1830, suspending freedom of the press, dissolving the Chamber of Deputies, and changing election laws in favor of the landed nobility. The upshot was the [[July Revolution]] of 1830.

Laffitte was one of the earliest and most determined advocates for ousting Charles X and his ministers and establishing a new government under [[Louis Philippe I]], the duc d'Orléans, whose father, Philippe Égalité, had supported the Revolution of 1789. Laffitte's home in Paris became a headquarters for the "Party of Movement" to make Louis-Philippe the "Citizen King" of a reformed constitutional monarchy. Against the background of popular insurrection in Paris and growing unrest in the provinces, the plan succeeded. Charles X fled to England, his ministers were arrested, Louis-Philippe I assumed the throne and Laffitte became president of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Finances (2 November 1830 – 13 March 1831). As it proved, Laffitte was much better as a banker and financier than as a king maker or political leader. His government, torn between the necessity for preserving order in France and the need to conciliate the Parisian populace, succeeded in doing neither. To moderate liberals in the Chamber of Deputies like Casimir Perier, and even for the king himself, his dealings with popular revolutionary figures such as General Lafayette were moving France dangerously toward the establishment of a republic. Perier refused to have anything to do with Laffitte's ministry. After 131 days of turmoil and indecision, Laffitte was forced to resign and Perier's "Party of Order" formed a new ministry. Laffitte would keep his seat in the Chamber after 1831, but he would never lead or be part of another ministry.<ref>See David Pinkney, ''The French Revolution of 1830'' (1972). For Casimir Perier's position, see Madeleine Bourset, ''Casimir Perier. Un Prince Financier au Temps du Romanticism'', p. 199.</ref>

Laffitte's foray into the complicated politics of 1830 in France cost him dearly financially. The revolution had worsened an already troubled French economy. Laffitte & Co. suffered losses of 13&nbsp;million francs and the bank had to be liquidated (January 1831). To help cover his bank's losses, Laffitte talked the governor of the Bank of France into arranging an unprecedented bank loan of 7&nbsp;million francs. He put his Paris home on the rue d'Artois (now the rue Laffitte) and his art collection up for sale. Most importantly, for 6&nbsp;million francs, he sold off family woodlands at Breteuil to the king, Louis-Philippe, which helped greatly but hurt Laffitte politically and financially when the king made the sale public. Laffitte at least managed to protect the Château de Maisons from sale, but he divided up its extensive parklands into lots for building country villas to sell to rich Parisians. This actually became a remarkably creative early experiment in suburban real estate development, as described in a brochure prepared by M. de Rouvières entitled ''Histoire et description pittoresque de Maisons-Laffitte '' (1838). Laffitte and his brother, Jean-Baptiste Laffitte, established a stage coach line for the 15-kilometer trip from Paris to Maisons. His nephew, Charles Laffitte (1803–1875), and his son-in-law, the Prince de Moskowa, added a grassland horse racing track – the first in France.<ref>Monnier, ''Jacques Laffitte'', pp.232, 241, 256–58.</ref>