FRANCE: PRESIDENT MITTERRAND'S ATTITUDES TOWARD THE UNITED STATES

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• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: March 1, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

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Directorate of
Intelligence
United States
France: President Mitterrand's
Attitudes Toward the
Secret
EUR 84-10053
March 1984
Copy 316
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(il" n-* 1"'?) Intelligence
France: President Mitterrand's
Attitudes Toward the
United States
This paper was prepared by
Western Europe Division, Office of European
Analysis.
(Comments and queries are
welcome and may be directed to the Chief, Central
Mediterranean Branch, EURA
Secret
EUR 84-10053
March 1984
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France: President Mitterrand's
Attitudes Toward the
United States
Key Judgments While the Socialist government of Francois Mitterrand has moved toward
Information available greater support for the United States in some key areas, it has continued to
as of I March 1984 criticize bitterly US policies in others. This seemingly contradictory ap-
was used in this report.
proach is rooted at least in part in President Mitterrand's complicated and
ambivalent attitudes toward the United States-its traditions, people, and
policies. A content analysis ' of the French President's voluminous and
largely autobiographical writings suggests that his ambivalence is deeply 25X1
rooted. While his attitudes are mostly negative, especially on questions of
policy, there is also considerable evidence from these and other sources that
Mitterrand harbors a strong, positive attachment to the United States.
Much of Mitterrand's criticism of the United States is, not surprisingly,
concentrated in the foreign arena, especially policy toward the Third World.
He has charged that:
? Superpower rivalries and the dictates of multinational corporations have
driven the United States to "interventionism" and self-interested "eco-
nomic imperialism."
? US policies have undermined American political principles and have
victimized the people of the underdeveloped world.
He objects not only to the methods used, but also resents what he sees as the
arrogance of the superpowers in claiming for themselves the right to force
other countries to choose one side or the other. Mitterrand also demonstrates
a strong nationalist indignation toward the United States, often claiming
that the United States simply ignores France and French interests and does
not take France seriously.
On the other hand, he has voiced high praise of the US political tradition,
the Constitution, and the contributions of the founding fathers to demo-
cratic ideals.
? His relations with longtime American friends and his reactions to contacts
with other Americans-including members of the present administra- 25X1
tion-have been mostly positive.
? In general, his view of America appears to be that it is a land of vitality and
creativity, with an admirable dedication to democratic principles.
' Content analysis presumes that, if the volume of data-in this case, President Mitterrand's
journals and essays since 1938-is sufficiently large, calculation of the frequency and
character (that is, neutral, negative, or positive) of opinions expressed will yield evidence of
the pattern and trend of an individual's attitudes.
Secret
EUR 84-10053
March 1984
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Mitterrand's often contradictory attitudes toward the United States and
Americans reflect the variegated influences that have contributed to his
intellectual development.
? His progressive father and grandfather engendered in him a reverence for
the American past and especially for the founders of the American
political ideal.
? His wartime experiences in the resistance reinforced these early im-
pressions and gave him a lasting sense of gratitude for the American role
in the liberation of France.
? His postwar drift toward socialism and his growing nationalism, however,
added a new and critical dimension to his perceptions, especially of US
policies
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Key Judgments
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study.
Secret Vi
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France: President Mitterrand's
Attitudes Toward the
United States
Since coming to power in May 1981, the French
Socialists have moved significantly toward greater
support for the United States in certain key foreign
policy areas. Under Socialist tutelage, for example,
France has called for closer cooperation with NATO
and followed a much harder line toward Moscow. It
has also backed INF deployments and publicly de-
nounced the neutralism implicit in the peace move-
ment. At the same time, Paris has frequently criti-
cized Soviet behavior and has cooled the special
relationship with Moscow which previous French gov-
ernments had touted as a mark of their independence
from Washington.
These changes in foreign policy stem in large part
from personal initiatives by Francois Mitterrand, who
has a long-held conviction that France should support
the resolve of the United States and the Western
Alliance to resist Soviet intimidation in Europe. The
French constitution gives the President virtually com-
plete control of foreign affairs for his seven-year term.
Like other French presidents, Mitterrand has had
considerable rein to recast French policies according
to his own ideas.
The generally positive foreign policy actions stand in
contrast, however, to the anti-US rhetoric often asso-
ciated with Mitterrand. Based on an extensive analy-
sis of Mitterrand's writings, we believe that the
contrast reflects a genuine contradiction in his think-
ing about the United States.
Despite his broad experience in domestic politics and
his extensive travels abroad, President Mitterrand has
a surprisingly limited view of the world beyond West-
ern Europe, and he probably has a narrower view of
the United States than did either President de Gaulle
or Giscard. He is well versed in French history and
literature and in the modern experience of much of
the Third World-especially Asia and Africa-but he
knows and understands little of Anglo-American his-
tory prior to World War II. Although Mitterrand
suggests in his writings that he has a deep understand-
ing of the US based on extensive contacts here, his
direct exposure to people and institutions of the
United States is, in fact, very limited, and we believe
he probably overstates his experience. US diplomats
in Paris have commented that Mitterrand "probably
doesn't understand the United States or how it
works.'l
its own principles.
In our view, Mitterrand also is clearly of two minds
about the United States. His conflicting visions of
America-the one rooted in the idealized images of
his youth, the other in ideologically influenced percep-
tions of US policy formed during his mature years-
create a contradiction which one observer who knows
him well has noted leads often to a profound sense of
"disappointment." As is evident from Mitterrand's
books and interviews, his youthful images form an
unrealistically high standard against which he com-
pares his perceptions of postwar US policies. Not
surprisingly, this comparison often leaves Mitterrand
with the disappointing sense that the US has strayed
from its historical origins to pursue policies hostile to
American Political System and Traditions
Mitterrand's views about America-its history, peo-
ple, culture, and political system-are generally posi-
tive. He strongly applauds the US Constitution as
based on ideals similar to the French revolutionary
republican and democratic traditions of the 19th
century.
? The American legal system, he has said approving-
ly, centers on "the defense of the rights of citizens ...
against the arbitrary power" of the State.
? He has also written admiringly of American politi-
cal institutions, especially of the balance of power
between the branches of the federal government.
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Mitterrand is a well published author with 11 books
to his credit. He has written voluminously about
virtually every important issue to affect France in the
last 40 years. His books, cast strongly in the French
style of intellectual autobiography, trace the evolu-
tion of his ideas and attitudes. Some are elaborate
expositions of his thoughts on particular issues;
others are journals which describe his thinking on
various subjects over long periods of time. These
`jottings, " as Mitterrand calls them, give us an
excellent glimpse into the formation of his attitudes
and have served as our principal source of evidence.
While we understand that Mitterrand sometimes
speaks for effect, there are consistencies in his atti-
tudes over the years, and these are evident in the long
sequence of his written reflections. The quotes used in
this study are representative of these consistencies
and are drawn largely from: a
Aux Frontieres de 1'Union francaise (1953), concern-
ing French policies in Asia and Africa, and especially
Indochina and Tunisia.
Presence francaise et Abandon (1957); a political
commentary on world affairs, but especially on Asia
and the Cold War.
La Chine au Defi (1961), on the recent experience of
China in world affairs.
a Mitterrand has edited one collection of postwar writings by
others and has written the prefaces to a number of political tracts,
most of them Socialist Party publications. However, only the
Thomas Jefferson is a personification of American
political and intellectual ideals and a link to the values
of the French Revolution of 1789. He idealizes and
often praises Jefferson as a representative of the
humanist and libertarian legacy of the founding fa-
thers and as a direct link to the founders of the French
Le Coup d'Etat permanent (1964), on the French
political scene, and in particular on the rule of
General de Gaulle.
Ma Part de Verite (1969), political and social com-
mentary on the meaning of the 1960s, including
Mitterrand's musings on Vietnam.
Un Socialisme du Possible (1970), more of the above,
only more strident on American "imperialism."
La Rose au Poing (1973), election prose and political
commentary, including sweeping criticism of super-
power relations.
La Paille et le Grain (1975), political and social
reflections, from personal journals, 1971-74.
Politique (1977), more political and social commen-
tary from personal journals, 1938-77.
L'Abeille et 1'Architecte (1978), more of the same
from personal journals, 1975-78.
Politique 2 (1981), reflections on politics and society,
from journals kept between 1977 and 1981. (c NF)
Mitterrand has not published since 1981, probably
fearing that his candid opinions would complicate
French policy.
Republican tradition. "Their teachings," he observed
to the US Ambassador shortly after his inauguration,
"are etched on our collective memory, where they
have been joined by the ideals of the French revolu-
tions of 1789 and 1848."
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Mitterrand's Published Comments
on the United States
The last four of Mitterrand 's books are published
versions of private journals, kept since 1938. In these
and his seven lengthy essays, Mitterrand has made
only 245 direct references-to the United States and
Americans: only about 10 percent of them were
positive in character, almost 40 percent were neutral,
and over 50 percent were negative. Most of the
positive statements concern American institutions or
people. Almost all of the negative comments, on the
other hand, are directed at US policies.
Character of Comments
Year Positive
Pub-
lished
Neutral
Negative
Aux Frontieres
1953 2
5
10
Presence Francaise
1957 0
7
13
La Chine au De
1961 0
17
17
Le Coup d'Etat
1964 5
11
2
Ma Part de Verite
1969 2
7
11
Un Socialisme
1970 1
0
5
La Rose au Poing
1973 3
7
11
La Paille et le Grain
1975 a 2
10
13
Politique
1977 b 2
9
11
L'Abeille et I Arch.
1978 c 3
5
17
Politique 2
1981 d 4
16
17
Total
24
94
127
a Includes journal entries from the period 1971 to 1974.
b Includes journal entries from the period 1938 to 1977.
c Includes journal entries from the period 1975 to 1978.
d Includes Journal entries from the period 1977 to 1981.
American People and Places
In general, his contacts with and impressions of the
American people have also been positive. Visits to the
United States have, as he wrote in 1971, "always
confirmed the intuitions I had about them before I
went to the country." "I love this country where
everyone greets passers-by and opens wide his door,"
said Mitterrand of his first encounter with America in
1946: "Looking at America, every voyager has the
eyes of Christopher Columbus." After several visits
Mitterrand was prompted to elaborate in 1969, "It's
the country where I feel most at ease." His attitude
toward the American people remained just as positive
after his election in 1981. "I have always been happy
to visit the US," he said in one postelection interview,
"I have a kindred feeling for the American people."
As recently as last November, Mitterrand told an
American friend that if he were ever forced to leave
France, his first choice for a democratic, culturally
stimulating exile would be the United States. While
the French President admits that his attitudes toward
US policies are often negative, he always adds that he
has great affection for the nation and its people. "I
like Americans," he is fond of saying, "but not their
policies."
Perhaps more than most people, Mitterrand values
symbols, and no symbol of America causes him to wax
so lyrical as does New York. "If the term pure poetry
has any meaning," he said in his journal after having
viewed the city from atop Rockefeller Center, "it is to
be found there." It is a mark of Mitterrand's affection
for the city that he takes every opportunity to visit it,
and he sent his son, Jean-Christophe, to high school
American Political Leaders
Mitterrand's sanguine views of Americans do not
extend to most US political leaders. Indeed, he has
written that in the aggregate the American system
has largely failed to produce "responsible politicians."
The system has become "divorced from the values"
which previously inspired it, he has said, and it now
responds only to clever, self-interested manipulators.
He has several times argued that the career of Henry
Kissinger-which fascinates him-is a case in point.
Mitterrand's opinions of President Reagan have
changed for the better as personal contacts have
increased. In the midst of the 1975 presidential
primaries, Mitterrand referred to Reagan as "a televi-
sion master of ceremonies" who had "seduced the old
(political) machine that once produced Lincoln.
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Presidents Mitterrand and
Reagan at Ottawa, 1981F
? According to the US Embassy in Paris, Mitterrand
was especially impressed by the President's ability
at the Ottawa Summit in 1981 to keep the discus-
sions focused on salient issues.
? Mitterrand in 1982 told an American journalist who
knows him well that he finds Reagan "a very
engaging person" and disagrees with the impression
prevalent in France that the President has little
command of detail on important issues.
? While admitting a certain amount of impatience
with President Reagan, Mitterrand stressed in 1983
that "Personally I have a good understanding with
Monsieur Reagan. He's a man with whom one can
talk, and he is a well-meaning man, an open man.
I'm not saying this on the level of his ideology but,
From Mitterrand's own public comments, it appears
that he also has a high opinion of Vice President
Bush. From Mitterrand's point of view, encounters
with Bush have been uniformly positive. Mitterrand
said in 1981 that he considers the Vice President
"open, sympathetic, constructive," and a man of "real
courtesy." Most appealing, says Mitterrand, is the
Vice President's instinctive understanding that "there
is nothing shocking about one's allies having trouble
understanding the reasoning behind one's acts."
US Policies
In contrast to Mitterrand's generally positive reac-
tions to Americans as people, and his admiration of
American political institutions, his attitudes toward
the US role abroad are strongly negative (see table 1).
In general, Mitterrand has been more critical of US
policies toward the Third World than toward France,
Europe, or the USSR. He has been particularly
critical over the years of US actions in Asia and
Vietnam.
rather, of human contact."
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Table 1
Mitterrand's Comments on Specific Subjects
in Relation to the United States
US Policy Toward:
Positive
Neutral
Negative
France
2
18
10
USSR and Soviet Bloc
1
18
18
Europe
3
6
9
Asia and Vietnam
0
10
33
Latin America
0
0
7
Other Third World, including
Africa and Middle East
0
10
10
US Domestic Policies and Politics
7
15
10
US Corporations
1
2
12
American People and Culture
5
3
1
US History Before 1946
5
1
0
US Foreign Policy
0
5
15
Other Subjects
0
6
2
Total
24
94
127
Our analysis of Mitterrand's books and journals
demonstrates that, if anything, his criticism of the
United States has escalated over the last decade.
Since 1970 Mitterrand's expressed opinions have be-
come more negative-57 percent for the more recent
period to 46 percent for the period before 1970. The
trend, moreover, has been toward more positive and
negative opinions, with neutral opinions declining by
13 percentage points. Indeed, Mitterrand as a nation-
al leader seems less prepared to express positive
sentiments about US policy than he was as a private
citizen and opposition politician, although he un-
doubtedly retains a strong positive image of the US in
general.
Mitterrand knows that his penchant for criticizing US
policies dominates American reporting of his relations
with the United States, and he probably believes that
this has reinforced a bad impression of him on this
side of the Atlantic. From many of his statements it
appears that this distresses him because he sees
himself as the best ally the United States has ever had
in France. His sensitivity in this regard is almost
certainly one of the reasons why he so often goes out
Table 2
Trends in Mitterrand's Attitudes
Toward the United States
Before and After 1970
Character Number
Percent
of Total
Number
Percent
of Total
9
13
11
56
45
38
32
58
46
69
57
125
100
120
100
ally to change for the better
of his way to deny "bad feelings" toward the United
States. According to columnist Joseph Kraft, Mitter-
rand assured him three times in the space of a short
interview in 1982 that he had no resentment toward
the United States. He often says he is irritated by
American policymakers who do not accept his notion
that friendship involves the willingness to pressure an
Toward the Third World. Mitterrand has said often
that US policies in the Third World are "self-interest-
ed" and "wrong-headed." US foreign policy, he has
asserted, is driven toward "interventionism" and "eco-
nomic imperialism" by blind anti-Communism and
the interests of American multinational corporations.
The domination of the Third World by "the Russo-
American couple" and the progressive division of the
world into spheres of influence by "the two empires"
have been for Mitterrand the most significant prob-
lem "confronting the underdeveloped countries, which
are the direct victims of this competition." Mitterrand
has not been willing to admit any essential difference
between, for example, US intervention in Vietnam
and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. "I con-
demn the one and the other," he declared in 1968,
"and for the same reasons." His views do not seem to
have changed much over the years. In a 1982 speech,
he condemned the US struggle with the Soviets and
superpower domination of the structure of interna-
tional relations as the source of so "much trouble and
damage, of which poor countries are always the first
victims.'
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Mitterrand's hostility toward US policy in the Third
World also has a personal dimension. He has blamed
the United States in part for the death of Salvador
Allende-a close friend and ideological soulmate who
he charged was murdered in 1973 because he at-
tempted to "deliver his country from the clutches of
the American trusts and Chilean monopolies." While
Mitterrand may not hold the US Government directly
responsible, he has sharply criticized, on several occa-
sions, the CIA's presumed complicity with ITT in the
affair. In Mitterrand's view, moreover, Allende is only
one of several Third World victims of American
adventurism. He has pointed to the ouster of Cambo-
dian monarch Norodom Sihanouk as evidence of US
"contempt for small nations" and "ignorance of the
values and incentives of our times." (1976
Mitterrand often observes that US policymakers
wrongly view every Third World event in superpower
perspective. He charges that the US assumes every
rebel is a pawn of Moscow, and that this drives
independent-minded Socialists and nationalists into
the arms of the Soviets. This is especially true in Latin
America, where Mitterrand charges that failure to
distinguish between democratic and nationalist rebels
and authoritarian groups has led the United States to
support rightist dictatorships blindly.
Mitterrand asserts that socialism offers hope to the
Third World, as an alternative to the extreme solu-
tions offered by the Americans and Soviets. In the
past, he has largely blamed the United States for
socialism's lack of success. "American imperialism"
he wrote in 1970, and "the refusal of US policymak-
ers to distinguish between democratic socialism and
Communism in developing countries," have been
"major causes of the checks on socialism in the
world." For Mitterrand, this has redounded only to
the profit of the multinationals and, ultimately, the
Soviet Union.
The Multinationals. Many of Mitterrand's harshest
criticisms of US policy stem from his view that it
operates hand-in-fist with American-controlled multi-
national corporations. He is suspicious of the potential
which giant companies have to "control all the chan-
nels of power," and warned in 1972 that soon each of
the 60 largest corporations would "have a business
volume greater than the gross national product" of
France.
He has expressed fear of the political impact of
massive economic investment by multinationals in
Europe as well as the Third World. "We know full
well," Mitterrand argued in 1972, "how the relation-
ships of economic inequality are transformed into
relationships of political power."
Mitterrand subscribes to the familiar leftist belief
that multinational corporations aspire eventually to
international "hegemony," but "meanwhile serve as
instruments for American penetration of European"
and Third World economies. American "economic
imperialism," promoted largely through the multina-
tionals, threatens to sap France's industrial and agri-
cultural vitality and to absorb the nation's economy
into an "international division of labor programmed
by big capital." This drive toward domination, he
alleges, has "the clear intention of breaking up the
Common Market.'I
Franco-US Relations. In addition to his suspicions
about corporate influence on US policy, Mitterrand
criticizes, sometimes bitterly, many aspects of the US
relationship with France as an ally. He has com-
plained to interviewers that he believes the United
States too often demands conformity as the price of
alliance, while it recognizes no similar restraint upon
its own "whims." The United States is quick, Mitter-
rand has charged, to confuse "friendship" with "sub-
jugation" and to take offense at those who insist upon
their right to pursue their national interests. He often
cites US insistence that France forgo energy coopera-
tion with Moscow at the same time that American
farmers and policymakers sought to revive grain sales
to the USSR as evidence of an American double
standard.
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only slightly less than the Gaullists and is therefore
quick and somewhat irritated to assure Americans "I
am neither." (1967)
The first time I saw New York it was from the sky.
How dazzling! I had flown there overnight, and the
rising sun had not dissipated the mist of the early
morning. Manhattan, gray and golden in its geomet-
ric relief, had a full softness. I have returned there
five or six times. By plane I have always experienced
the same shock, the same impression of entering the
future through the window. (1972)
I harbor a thousand friendly memories of the United
States. I can picture the lovely, pleasant evening that
my friends from Indianapolis, the D's, must have just
spent with their family ... which gathers to celebrate
each Christmas Eve together. They are unpreten-
tious. They use words sparingly, especially those that
might betray their feelings. I should have written
them. But I shall wait. What can I say to an
American, however close, however dear? Above the
outskirts of Hanoi, American B-52s wend their way
through the night skies. Star, rain of fire, death,
silence, they celebrate in their own way the birth of
the Savior.... (1972)
Speak German to the Germans, Spanish to the
Spaniards, and French to the Americans.a (1964)
America is on the brink of something impossible to
imagine. Too many blows received have made her
huddle in her corner like a groggy boxer. The ques-
tions of yesterday seem to have faded in the daze of a
terrible uppercut.... But wait till she rises to her feet
once more and heads for the center of the ring.
Heaven help the cardboard decor and the knick-
knacks in the hall.... In the entrails of America the
pockets of mine gas are waiting to explode. (1975)
a Agreeing with de Gaulle's view that it is dangerous to deal with
Americans on equal terms.
Mitterrand also resents what he sees as American
"simplification" of the French political scene and of
the Socialists' role. He objects especially to the al-
leged American view that "if one isn't a Gaullist, one
is a Communist." Mitterrand detests Communists
Some of Mitterrand's attitudes reflect views common-
ly held among French Socialists, but others predate
his own commitment to socialism. The latter appear
to spring from deeply felt nationalism and especially
from a natural dislike of subordinating French nation-
al interests to those of any other nation. This very
likely first struck Mitterrand during the Fourth Re-
public (1946-58), for he said in 1981 that, as a
member of various governments of the period, he was
"exasperated by the climate of obedience to Ameri-
ca's slightest wishes. I did not recognize their right,"
he added, "to set themselves up as the gendarmes of
the world." More recently, Mitterrand complained to
interviewers that the Reagan administration did not
take France seriously and sometimes acted as though 25X1
it was "not an independent country." "The Atlantic
Alliance," as Mitterrand put it, "does not authorize
the United States to tell us whether or not we can sell
green peas to Russia."
Washington.
For Mitterrand absence of "dialogue" is the single
most important indicator that the United States does
not take France seriously and does not recognize it as
a full partner. As he has said over and over and as
French policymakers have repeated to Embassy offi-
cials to the point of distraction, France wants most of
all to be "consulted." "Franco-American policy is
based on dialogue," he told an interviewer in 1981,
and he has implied often in his writings and speeches
that the health of the relationship at any moment
depends on the degree of dialogue. His perception that
the US ignores France may account for the often
shrill tone of Mitterrand's criticisms. Provincial
Frenchmen often defend the violence and boistrous-
ness of their demonstrations by explaining, "If you
want to be heard in Paris from the provinces, you have
to shout louder." Mitterrand often shouts loudest
when he thinks it is the only way to be heard in
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US-USSR Mitterrand seldom criticizes US policy
toward the USSR 2 per se, but rather questions the
US choice of policies to meet the Soviet challenge.
Playing the game on Soviet terms and engaging in
superpower rivalry that ignores the interests of other
nations, he argues, can only undermine American
values and erode the image which the US should
project in the world. While Mitterrand generally
approved of de Gaulle's increasingly independent
attitude vis-a-vis the United States, he nevertheless
ridiculed the general's tendency to demonstrate dis-
tance from the United States by flirting with Moscow.
The Sources of Mitterrand's Attitudes
Mitterrand's contradictory attitudes toward America
and Americans undoubtedly reflect the variegated
influences on his intellectual development. These in-
clude his upbringing in a progressive, provincial
French household, his subsequent experiences in the
French resistance during World War Il,and as a
political figure in the weakened France of the early
postwar years, his developing nationalism, and his
ultimate conversion to socialism
According to a leading French journalist who knows
him well and has interviewed him many times, Mit-
terrand's fundamental attitudes toward America are
anchored in his boyhood. Born in rural France in
1916, Mitterrand grew to manhood in an era when
the memories of the American contribution to France
in World War I were still vivid and during which
France experienced an unprecedented infusion of
American popular culture. Mitterrand makes it clear
in his journals that like many other young Frenchmen
he was stirred by the daring of American popular
idols and adopted Charles Lindbergh as a boyhood
hero. From skyscrapers to jazz to films, his early
exposure to American culture appears to have given
Mitterrand an image of the United States as a place
of extraordinary vitality and vigor. Even today, it
' In contrast to his emotionally colored images of America,
Mitterrand's writing reveals no comparable visions of Russia or the
Russian people. Judging from his books, he does not appear to have
shared the romantic sympathy of many youths of his generation for
the Russian Revolution. When he writes of the Soviet Union, it is
invariably in impersonal terms. He looks at Moscow coldly and, to
one degree or another, finds it sorely wanting. He almost never has
France and the United States.
appears from Mitterrand's writings and interviews
that he has a genuine emotional attachment only to
Mitterrand seems to have drawn his veneration of
America's founding fathers and his image of America
as a repository of democratic virtues from his liberal
father and grandfather. He once commented to Henry
Kissinger that in French provincial families Jefferson,
Franklin, and Lincoln were revered like "the sages of
antiquity." To leave no doubt that he was speaking of
his own experiences, he added "that was so in my
family and I expect it was the same throughout the
Western world." Mitterrand's idealized image of
America is typical of the views held by liberal, middle
class, provincial Frenchmen in the postwar years.
World War II, of course, also helped shape Mitter-
rand's world view. Before the war and his experience
in the Resistance, he took little interest in world or
national issues and was by his own admission apoliti-
cal. The war politicized him and riveted his attention
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on political struggle. Although the war mostly affect-
ed his career in national politics, it also shaped
significantly and positively his attitudes toward the
characteristics, as suggested by US Embassy report-
ing and our analysis of his writing, can be a useful
guide:
United States.
Unlike de Gaulle, who emerged from the war filled
with resentment toward the United States, Mitter-
rand still appears to harbor an emotional gratitude for
the American contribution to the liberation of France.
Mitterrand distanced himself early from the postwar
drift of French leftists toward Communism and the
Soviet Union. He said in 1973, "while they have opted
for the East and the Warsaw Pact, I have chosen the
West, the Atlantic Alliance, and the European consti-
tution. I have not forgotten that I owe my liberty to
? As he says many times in his journals and political
essays, Mitterrand wants mainly to be heard and
consulted by the United States. If there is one
element of US relations with France and Mitter-
rand that arouses his ire, it is his conviction that the
United States ignores him. Mitterrand has told
interviewers that he has little hope of changing US
policies with which he disagrees, but he clearly
hopes to be understood and to use dialogue with
Washington to raise objections and to defend
French interests.
the United States of America."
Mitterrand's more negative perceptions about the
United States appear rooted in his postwar political
experiences and in his gradual progress toward na-
tionalist and socialist conceptions of world affairs.
The United States appears to have first engaged
Mitterrand's sense of nationalism during the Fourth
Republic. As a member of various governments he
experienced the period of US dominance in Europe
and the demands for allied unity and support which
the Cold War and "containment" made the mainstays
of US policy toward Europe. It is clear from his
writings that Mitterrand was also alienated during
this era by what he regarded as a US condemnation of
socialism as a form of Marxism.
? Mitterrand seems to respond best to Americans who
are unpretentious, plain spoken, openhanded, and
direct. These are all qualities which, our analysis of
his writings suggests, he associates with Americans
in general. As his writings also make clear, Mitter-
rand views himself as a simple, even ascetic man-
the very antithesis of the Parisian elite. While he
does not expect to be fussed over, he is by all
accounts quick to take offense if the niceties of
protocol are not observed. He is also easily rankled
when others challenge his wisdom head-on. This
sensitivity may even be accentuated where the
United States is concerned, for he already seems to
believe that Washington takes him and France
lightly.
Mitterrand the Man: How To Deal With Him
Even those who know Mitterrand well stress the
complexity of his personality and the difficulty of
dealing with him on a personal level. His principal
and best biographer describes him as "ambivalent"
and "enigmatic," "misanthropic and sociable, naive
and calculating, sincere and deceitful." Even close
associates and aides find him distant and aloof; a
perceptive observer once dubbed him "the prince of
ambiguity"-doubtless combining criticism of his ob-
tuse and sometimes arrogant manner. Not surprising-
ly, people who have dealt with Mitterrand say the
experience is seldom effortless, nor is it always pleas-
ant or profitable. Yet a keen eye toward certain of his
? Personal relationships probably have the greatest
potential for increasing Mitterrand's fund of posi-
tive perceptions. While they are unlikely to alter his
attitudes substantially, we believe that positive,
personal contacts can exert a moderating influence,
especially on the public tone of French-US relations.
? Mitterrand is likely to seem guarded and formal in
dealing with others. Meeting this style with friendly
ease is probably the surest way to make him relaxed
and comfortable. If allowed initially to structure the
interview or conversation in its most general terms,
`Mitterrand is usually
receptive and flexible to the proposals and consider-
ations of others."
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? For most of his adult life Mitterrand has been in the
opposition. Struggling against great odds to get into
power taught him, as a close friend put it, that "his
great strength is that he knows how to wait." This
has made Mitterrand a tough negotiator; he is
seldom in a hurry to resolve differences.
? Those who deal with Mitterrand will find that he
appreciates foreign recognition of French achieve-
ments. Like many Frenchmen, he is sensitive to
France's slide from the ranks of the great powers
and is quick to resent slights. Mitterrand clearly
hopes that his policies will restore a measure of the
political and economic effectiveness which most
observers believe France has lost
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