Georges Clemenceau - Journalism and Exile

Journalism and Exile

In Paris, the young Clemenceau became a political activist and writer. In December 1861, he co-founded a weekly newsletter, Le Travail, along with some friends. On 23 February 1862, he was arrested by the police for having placed posters summoning a demonstration. He spent 77 days in the Mazas prison.

He graduated as a doctor on 13 May 1865, founded several literary magazines, and wrote many articles, most of which attacked the imperial regime of Napoleon III. Clemenceau left France for the United States when the Imperial agents began cracking down on dissidents (sending most of them to the bagne de Cayennes (Devil's Island Penal System) in French Guiana.

Clemenceau worked in New York City 1865-69, following the American Civil War. He maintained a medical office but spent much of his time on political journalism for a Parisian newspaper. He took a post teaching French and horseback riding at a private girls' school in Stamford, Connecticut.