page_title: Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration
section_title: France
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration / Europe / France
caption_attribution_description: Dinner in honor of the Minister of State for Cultural Affairs of France. Front, L-R: Andre Malraux; Mme. Malraux; Mrs. Kennedy; President Kennedy. Back, L-R: Herve Alphand, Ambassador of France; Mme. Alphand (partially hidden); Commander Tazewell Shepard, Naval Aide; Vice President Johnson; Mrs. Johnson (partially hidden). White House, Grand Staircase
context_page_description: The foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration was the foreign policy of the United States from 1961 to 1963 while John F. Kennedy was president. Interactions with foreign nations during this period included diplomatic and military initiatives in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, all conducted amid considerable Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Kennedy deployed a new generation of foreign policy experts, dubbed "the best and the brightest". In his inaugural address Kennedy encapsulated his Cold War stance: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate".
  Kennedy's strategy of flexible response, managed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, was aimed to reduce the possibility of war by miscalculation. His administration resulted in the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and refrained from further escalation of the Berlin Crisis of 1961. However, Kennedy's policies also led to implementing the Bay of Pigs invasion and escalation of the Vietnam War.
  Kennedy was committed to the rapid economic development of the impoverished newly organized nations in the Third World.
context_section_description: France was the second  country that Kennedy visited as President. He arrived to Paris with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy on May 31, 1961. French President Charles De Gaulle, known for his preference to speak French to foreign guests, greeted Kennedy in English. Jacqueline, who in turn spoke fluent French, intrigued the French press, which called her the "queen".
  The French nuclear program was pivotal in De Gaulle's aim of restoring France's international reputation. Kennedy administration had a firm commitment to the nuclear nonproliferation. In a letter to Harold Macmillan, Kennedy wrote: "After careful review of the problem, I have to come to the conclusion that it would be undesirable to assist France's efforts to create a nuclear weapons capability". Kennedy was particularly dissatisfied with De Gaulle's intentions to assist West Germany in developing nuclear weapons.
caption: Kennedy at a White House dinner in honor of the French Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux, 1962.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "KN-C21660  11 May 1962  Dinner in honor of the Minister of State for Cultural Affairs of France. Front, L-R: Andre Malraux; Mme. Malraux; Mrs. Kennedy; President Kennedy. Back, L-R: Herve Alphand, Ambassador of France; Mme. Alphand (partially hidden); Commander Tazewell Shepard, Naval Aide; Vice President Johnson; Mrs. Johnson (partially hidden). White House, Grand Staircase. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2006:02:07 09:37:19", "Image Artist": "Robert Knudsen", "Image ExifOffset": "688", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "826", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7874", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "760", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "766"}