Rohatyn was United States Ambassador to France from 1997 to 2000, during the second term of the Clinton Administration and was a Commander in the French Legion of Honour. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He also delivered a speech to D-Day veterans at Omaha Beach in 1999, on the 55th anniversary of the Liberation of Normandy. He told them that a "democratic, prosperous Europe is the finest monument" to the veterans' exploits. He said, "I ask the children here today to look around — you are in the company of real heroes".