General de Gaulle, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I must tell you, Mr. President, that my heart is warmed by your very complimentary references to me, and more particularly to my country. I am delighted to be back in Paris. Indeed, there is an old saying in my country that for every American France is a second home. And certainly I feel at home in this country.
I am particularly delighted at the opportunity to have some conversations with my old friend and colleague General de Gaulle. He was, during the dark days of war, when freedom itself was at stake, he was the symbol of French courage, defiance, and dedication to those principles of peace and freedom.
Now we have an opportunity, in these troublous times, to talk together to see whether we can better concert all of our efforts toward the one single goal of peace with justice.
So again I say, thank you for your welcome, General de Gaulle, and my assurances that we will find ways to make our common efforts more effective.
Thank you very much, sir.
Note: The President spoke at Le Bourget Airport at 10:12 a.m. General de Gaulle's remarks of welcome, as published in the Department of State Bulletin (vol. 41, p. 410), follow:
Mr. President, we are very happy to see you, for we know you well.
You are the forever illustrious chief of the armies of freedom.
You are the President of a country which, among all others of the world, is dear to the heart of France, and, more, you are a man of intelligence, of courage, of honor.
In these difficult times it is quite natural that the United States and France must know each other and must agree together.
We will do this in complete friendship for the good of the nations that serve the same cause as we, and for the good of the whole world.
Mr. President, you are welcome.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Remarks Upon Arrival at the Airport in Paris Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234131
