Antoine de Sartine was close to the party of the minister Choiseul, who had been disgraced by Louis XV in 1770 and ordered to retire to his estate. After the king's death in May 1774, Choiseul was allowed to return to Paris and his party regained favor at court. Thus, on August 24 of the same year, Sartine was appointed Secretary of State for the Navy (with the honorific rank of Minister of State in 1775) and left his office of Lieutenant General of Police to his protégé Lenoir.