As a lawyer, he defended
Ambroise-Dydime Lépine against the charge of murdering
Thomas Scott during the
Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870. He served as the fifth
premier of Quebec,
federal Cabinet minister, and the seventh
lieutenant governor of Quebec. After the
1878 Quebec election, he was the
Leader of the Opposition. He became premier in 1879 after the fall of the
minority government of
Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière. He won the
1881 election, but resigned on July 29, 1882, to seek election to the federal
House of Commons. He won a by-election held on August 16, 1882. Chapleau planned to quit politics in 1885 when
Louis Riel was sentenced to be hanged but decided to stay, fearing it would only inflame the situation. After Riel was hanged, he was attacked by Quebecers who accused him of the death of Riel along with John A. Macdonald. He served as Minister of Justice under prime ministers
John A. Macdonald and
John Abbott, but declined to serve under
John Thompson. He resigned in 1892, and was appointed
Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from December 1892 until January 1898. He died in June of that same year in
Montreal, Quebec. His funeral monument can be seen at the
Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery. ==Elections as party leader==