Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic，there have been rising voices doubting French government’s governance capabilities in France. France had the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on the European continent and the first death case outside of Asia. In the face of a new type of virus，COVID-19，the French government tried to manage popular sentiment and the best way to deal with the epidemic. The anti-epidemic measures were vacillating between democracy and the rule of law，and French government was hesitating between moral rationality and instrumental rationality，missing the good opportunity of stopping the epidemic spreading，is responsible，to a certain degree，of ineffectiveness in the fight against the epidemic. An independent scientific evaluation team made recommendations for improvement on the management of the French government in the first wave of the epidemic. The Epidemic Crisis Investigation Committee created by the National Assembly and the Senate critized the government for failing to fight the epidemic effectively. The Court of the Republic has initiated judicial investigations against government officials related to health crisis management. In the future，French government should take into account the reality first，in its crisis management of the epidemic，to carry out more effective policies，then balancing moral rationality and instrumental rationality as much as possible.