Topic: Making Use of History
Things your Republican friends will deny...
This from l'Agence France-Presse (AFP) by way of The Tocqueville Connection:
ZUT ALORS! FOLKSY REAGAN REALLY DID KNOW FRENCH
Received Monday, 7 June 2004 00:32:00 GMT
Well, Reagan lost the lead in "Casablanca" to Humphrey Bogart, but one sees he really liked the movie.UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (AFP) - For all those around the world who remember Ronald Reagan as a plain-spoken president who represented the folksy heart of America, here's a shocker -- he really did know some French.
John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations who served as his deputy national security advisor, said here Sunday that Reagan once stunned a dinner party by singing the French national anthem.
"President Reagan noted at one point that he didn't know any foreign languages," Negroponte said, recalling a dinner he hosted for the late president in Mexico.
"But in high school he had learned to sing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem. And he asked the guests if they would like to hear him sing it. What were they going to say?" Negroponte recalled with a chuckle.
"He sang, with perfect recollection, the Marseillaise to the assembled guests," the US ambassador said. "He was a magnificent man, he was charming, he had a great sense of humour."
And he won the leading role in the other Casa Blanca, didn't he?
Ah, he came from a generation of folks who thought the French were actually fine people. Which generation is that? Any generation from the 1770's to 2002 of course.
Posted by Alan at 09:56 PDT
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