In 1956, Giscard d'Estaing was elected to the National Assembly as a deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme "département". He joined the National Centre of Independents and Peasants (CNIP), a conservative group. After the creation of the Fifth Republic, the CNIP leader Antoine Pinay became Minister of Economy and Finance and chose him as Secretary of State for Finances from 1959 to 1962.