he saw the Dreyfus affair and in 1882 appointed Georges Ernest Boulanger director of infantry at the war office. He alternated military commands with political posts: vice-president of the Conseil supérieur de la Caisse des offrandes nationales and member of the Conseil supérieur for war from 1883 to 1896, commander of the 1st Army Corps from 1884 to 1888, then minister for war in the Méline government from 1896 to 1898. Grand-Cross of the Légion d'Honneur in 1896 and Médaille militaire in 1897, general Billot was also grand-cross of the order of Cambodia, then a French protectorate, in 1898 and of the order of the Crown of Romania. He was implicated by Émile Zola of conspiracy to frame Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer, for espionage in an 1898 open letter J'Accuse…!. In it Zola accuses General Billot of having held in his hands absolute proof of Dreyfus's innocence and covering it up. The case, known as the Dreyfus affair, captivated and divided France. 1828 births 1907 deaths People from Corrèze Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Opportunist Republicans French Ministers of War People of the Second French Empire Members of the National Assembly (1871) French life senators French generals Second French intervention in Mexico French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia People associated with the Dreyfus affair