La Borde later recommended Dufresne to
Étienne François de Choiseul, who in 1764 appointed him to the Court Bank in Versailles under
Jean-Joseph de Laborde. By 1767 he was one of the two main cashiers of the
Caisse d'Escompte, during which time he owned and lived at 22
Place Vendôme. By 1775, he was the controller-paymaster at the . He then became first clerk of the in 1777. He reorganised the office of general revenue in 1781. He was later appointed receiver general at the in 1782. The support of the
Controller-General of Finances,
Jacques Necker, enabled him to become a councillor of state, the
intendant general of the
French navy, and then from September 1790 until 1792, the director general of the public treasury; during this period he lived on
Rue de Richelieu. In this period he was praised by his colleagues for his dedication to work and skill in finance. In August 1791 he had to step aside for the six commissioners of the new . Through the revolutionary period Dufresne was a monarchist. Imprisoned during the
reign of terror, he was then released and elected deputy for the
Seine in the
Council of Five Hundred on 21 Germinal in Year V (10 April 1797) and was placed in charge of public finances. As secretary of the council, he was also in charge of supplies to the armies. Dufresne was expelled after the
coup of 18 Fructidor in Year V (4 September 1797), but as a long-time ally of
Charles-François Lebrun, he was finally appointed to the after the
coup of 18 Brumaire in Year VIII (9 November 1799). He was then appointed
director general of the treasury on 1 Pluviôse in Year VIII (21 January 1800), under finance minister
Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin. == Death ==