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    "localId": "7344090",
    "label": "Exchange of Toasts between the President and Valery Giscard d'Estaing, President of the French Republic",
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    "title": "Exchange of Toasts between the President and Valery Giscard d'Estaing, President of the French Republic",
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        "White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)",
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        {
            "day": 18,
            "logicalDate": "1976-05-18",
            "month": 5,
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 26 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nMAY 18, 1976\nOFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nEXCHANGE OF TOASTS\nBETWEEN THE PRESIDENT\nAND\nVALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING\nPRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC\nTHE FRENCH EMBASSY\n10:36 P.M. EDT\nPRESIDENT GISCARD D'ESTAING: Mr. President, it\nis a great pleasure for Madam Giscard d'Estaing and myself\nto welcome you and Mrs. Ford this evening here in this\nFrench abode and to return to you some of the warm hospitality\nthat you and the American people have extended to me since\nthe beginning of mv visit.\nNow this is the fifth time we have met in 18\nmonths, and during the past two davs we have had useful\nand trusting talks together. \"e are getting to know each\nother well, and I would like to take this opportunity to\ntell you how delighted I am with the contacts and, if I\nmay say, with the friendship that has been established\nbetween us.\nA few weeks ago, Mr. President, you said that\nFrench-American relations were better today than they had\never been. I share your view wholeheartedlv, but I would\nlike to add that we owe this state of affairs largely to\nyou, to your personal conviction and your breadth of vision\nand I hope that I will not be accused of interfering in your\ncountry's domestic affairs if T testify to this here, but\nthat is a risk I am prepared to run.\nI agreed to make this visit for obvious reasons.\nGiven the role France played two centuries ago, it was only\nfitting that France would be first in joining in the cele-\nbrations for the Bicentennial of the United States and\nsharing with special feeling the ioy of the American\npeople.\nBut something else struck me. Though our countries\nare lined by so many memories and share the same values\nand belong to the same alliance and are so often led by\nmajor world affairs to exchange views and DOOL their\nefforts, nevertheless our countries' knowledge and under-\nstanding of each other is too often insufficient and super-\nficial, and even their trade relations are not commensurate\nwith the place each one holds in the world economy.\nMORE\nPage 2\nNow, such a situation is paradoxical. It is\nalso harmful and should be corrected. For this reason\nI am pleased at the renewed interest on both sides that my\nvisit at your invitation has generated between our two\ncountries. For the people of France, it has been an\noccasion to discover the realities of present-day America\nas they have been presented on this occasion bv our com-\nbined information services.\nT would like to think it has also helped the\nAmerican people to become better acquainted with the\nFrance of today, the France that is changing by virtue of\nher younger outlook and her sense of effort.\nFor this reason I also set great value, as vou\nknow you do, too, Mr. President, on the cooperation that\nwe have decided to implement in an area that is limited\nbut full of human implications. T am referring to the war\non cancer. I shall follow its development personally.\nFor this reason, lastly, I hope that there will\nbe more and more contacts and meetings between our two\ncountries and that, in fact, will be the aim of the two\nfoundations which have just been established, one in New\nYork and the other in Paris, in order to promote relations\nbetween the United States and France.\nUnder the guidance of well-known figures, thev\nwill work together closely to further exchanges and dialogue\nbetween our two countries. Now, one of the objectives of\nmy visit to which T am most attached will thus be achieved.\nI know, Mr. President, that it meets your wishes, too;\nthat is, that France and the United States should know\neach other better in order to understand each other better.\nOur two countries will thus be able to sail in\ncompany just as they did when the first French fleet came\nto fight by your side. In fact, the arrangement of the\ntables for this dinner is symbelic in that it reproduces the\nbattle order.\nI can't help but pause here just to say how much\nI admire the freshness and the naiveness of the sentiment\nof the men of those times. I would like to draw your\nattention to the menu card and the engraving on the first\nDage, which is a picture that I chose myself among the\nArchives in our country and the engraving commemorates\nthe independence of the United States.\nThe very first line, which is dated the Fourth\nof July, 1976, the 13 colonies that since have become\nknown as the United States -- well, I can but confirm\nthat since that time they certainly have become very\nwell known as the United States of America.\nMORE\nPage 3\nHere I must also refer to the names of the French\nships that came to the aid of their American allies.\nHere again we note the great variety in the names of the\nships which will also perhaps reflect the variety in\nthe relationships between our two countries. I see that\nthere is a ship called La Sensible, and even the Le\nFantasque, and by a curious intuition for those times, I\nsee that there was also a ship known as the Concorde.\n(Laughter)\nBut perhaps more to the point, I think you will\nagree is the fact that the La Victoire is among us. So,\nit is in memory of that last ship that I would now like\nto raise my glass in honor of the President of the\nUnited States and Mrs. Ford, and all the distinguished\nAmericans who did us the honor and pleasure of accepting\nour invitation and also in honor of the great American\npeople to whom I say on this, their birthday, many happy\nreturns of the day.\nTHE PRESIDENT: Mr. President, Madam Giscard\nd'Estaing, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:\nThank you very kindly, Mr. President, for your\nvery thoughtful and very generous words. Mrs. Ford and I\nare most appreciative and highly honored for the oppor-\ntunity to join with you and your many friends here on\nthis occasion this evening.\nOnce again I have a first-hand opportunity and\na welcome opportunity, I might say, to enjoy the\nincomparable hospitality and cuisine of the French people\nas well as yourself. France's reputation, as we all know,\nfor its hospitality is just one of the many dimensions\nof French contributions to the world as a whole.\nFrequent mention has been made during your visit,\nand appropriately so, Mr. President, of France's role in\nour struggle in this country for our independence. Yet,\nthe French influence in America long preceded 1776. Much\nof the new world was opened by French explorers such as\nMarquette and LaSalle. Their influence is very obvious,\nvery apparent in the names of American towns and American\ncities, north and south, from Detroit to Joliet to New\nOrleans.\nFrench influence is still very vivid in Louisiana,\nwhich you, Mr. President, will visit later this week.\nCloser to home, we enjoy the superb artistry of L'Enfant and\ndesign of our beautiful capital city. It was he who\nselected the site for the Capitol Building and for the\nWhite House itself, creating for the latter a beautiful\nPresident's park where your helicopter landed just\nyesterday.\nMORE\nPage 4\nFrench philosophers have profoundly influenced\nand inspired the nature of our democracy and the spirit of\nour laws in America. Thanks in a very large measure to the\nwritings of Montesquieu andRousseau, our nations share a\nheritage of human values. These values are today the very\nbasis of our philosophy, of our freedom, our justice as\nwell as our equality.\nAmerica remains greatly inspired by the wisdom\nand the vision of France in the history of our great\ncountry. It is especially gratifying to celebrate the\nBicentennial of our independence with the distinguished\nPresident of our country's oldest friend and oldest\nally. Ours is a partnership and an alliance unique in\nworld history, a relationship which each has extended the\nhand of friendship and assistance to the other in the hour\nof maximum peril.\nAs in the past, our security and our prosperity\nstill depend upon our willingness to work together, to\ncooperate in meeting common problems and meeting common\nchallenges.\nWe meet tonight, Mr. President, in a time of\npeace. Continued peace requires that every democracy\nremains strong and prepared to defend its liberty. As\nWashington said, \"To be prepared for war is one of the\nmost effectual means of preserving the peace.'\nIn a gesture symbolic of the commitment of both of\nour nations in safeguarding the security of our peoples,\nMadam Giscard d'Estaing will travel to Mississippi in\nthe next day or two to christen the United States Navy's\nnewest destroyer, the DeGrasse, and I compliment you and\nwish you well on that fine occasion on Saturday.\nThis ship, Mr. President, named for the French\nAdmiral whose fleet made possible a very decisive victory\nat Yorktown will contribute to the strength and to the\ncapability of our own Navy. The DeGrasse will also\ncontribute to the objectives and to the goals that we\nshare with France, to preserve the peace, to protect our\nfreedom and to keep the sea lanes of the world fully\nopen to the democratic nations.\nMr. President, for two hundred years France and\nthe United States shared dreams, shared challenges,\nshared victories in every sphere of human endeavor. The\nmutual esteem and inspiration which mark our relationship\ntoday flow from common ideals, determination and mutual\nreinforcement. I foresee a very vital partnership for\ngenerations to come between our two nations.\nMORE\nPage 5\nI might say on a personal basis, Mr. President,\nit has been a unique and a wonderful experience for me to\nhave made your acquaintance and to have worked with you,\nand I look forward to a continuation of that experience\nfor what I hope is the benefit of our countries for a\ngood many years to come.\nIt is altogether fitting that the nation which\ntwo centuries ago gave the world two very fundamental\ncharters of liberty -- our Declaration of Independence\nand the declaration of the rights of man -- should still\nstand together for freedom and for justice for all.\nSo, let us toast that partnership on the eve of\nthis third century.\nTo the health of the President of the French\nRepublic and to the liberty, equality and fraternity of\nthe people of France and the United States.\nEND\n(AT 10:58 P.M. EDT)"
}