Remarks on Arrival at Paris To Attend Memorial Services for President Georges Pompidou
Mr. Foreign Minister, all of the distinguished ladies and gentlemen who are present on this occasion:
I have come from Washington today to Paris to bring from all of the American people .the heartfelt sympathy to the people of France on the occasion of the loss of a great leader. It was just 5 [3] years ago that I stood in this place when I attended the ceremonies on the occasion of the death of General de Gaulle. And at that time, I recall there were many in the world who wondered if there was one who could follow a man who was truly one of the great statesmen of the 20th century.
France found such a man--President Pompidou. I have had the privilege to work with him, to know him for these past 5 years. He was a man of extraordinary intelligence, of superb devotion and dedication to duty, and above all, of indomitable courage. And never was that courage displayed more than during the last months of his life.
I met him in Iceland about 10 months ago. I knew then, or felt then, although he did not tell me, that he was nearing the end of his life. But his last months were a period of true greatness, because despite the adversity, he rose above it and served to the last with all of the courage and all the distinction that had been the mark of his life of service to his country.
President Pompidou came from the heart of France, and I bring from the hearts of all Americans our deepest sympathy to Madam Pompidou, his family, and to his countrymen on the occasion of their very great loss.
Note: The President spoke a 10:36 p.m. at Orly Airport, where he was welcomed by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Michel Jobert. Accompanying the President as members of the official U.S. delegation to the memorial services were John N. Irwin II, United States Ambassador to France; Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Assistant to the President; and Maj. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
On April 6, 1974, the President attended the memorial services for President Pompidou at Notre Dame Cathedral. After the services, he met with Alain Poher, who was interim President of France, at the Elysee Palace, and he later attended a French Government reception at the Foreign Ministry for foreign leaders in Paris for the memorial services.
Throughout the day, the President met separately at the United States Ambassador's residence with President Giovanni Leone of Italy, Prime Minister Harold Wilson of the United Kingdom, Chancellor Willy Brandt of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Prime Minister Pol Hartling of Denmark.
Richard Nixon, Remarks on Arrival at Paris To Attend Memorial Services for President Georges Pompidou Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256328
