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“DILLON LECTUREI have always found in my dealings with the French, that if we make aneffort to understand their point of view, we usually find that they are beingfully as reasonable as we, and that each side profits from understandingthe position of the other.FAF ANNUAL REPORT 2003-2004The French-American Foundation joined the Society ofthe Cincinnati on March 11, 2004, to hold the first of thenew series of Douglas Dillon Lectures. AmbassadorDillon was a leading member of both organizations and,indeed, was a founding member of the Foundation. Theevent was held at the Anderson House, the elegant headquartersof the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington,DC. About 150 people were in attendance, including anumber of the Foundation’s directors and past programparticipants.While Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a member ofthe Congressional French Caucus, had agreed to give theinaugural lecture, a series of last minute Senate votes preventedhim from leaving his post on Capitol Hill. TheFoundation will always be grateful to FrenchAmbassador Jean-David Levitte, who volunteered tospeak in the Senator’s place. Without benefit of preparationor notes, he gave an admirable lecture that traced theorigins of French-American policy disagreements andemphasized the many positive developments that hadoccurred since. The success of his remarks was such thatall who heard him felt optimistic that such excellent representationof France in the United States would surelylead to closer future cooperation.We tend to dwell on actions they take with which we disagree withoutmaking an effort to understand the reasons for their actions.And we tend to forget those occasions on which there is no disagreement,which, in fact, is the situation most of the time..”La French-American Foundation s’est jointe à la Society ofthe Cincinnati, le 11 mars 2004, pour inaugurer une sériede conférences en l’honneur de Douglas Dillon.L’ambassadeur Dillon était un membre éminent desdeux organisations, et un fondateur de la French-American Foundation. Le dîner d’inauguration a eu lieudans la Anderson House, la gracieuse demeure qui abritela Society of the Cincinnati à Washington, DC. De nombreuxdirecteurs de la fondation et des participants de nosprecédents programmes étaient parmi les 150 invités.Alors que le sénateur du Nebraska, Chuck Hagel,membre du Congressional French Caucus, avait accepté deprononcer le discours d’inauguration, il a été retenu pardes votes de dernière minute au Sénat. La fondation seradonc éternellement reconnaissante à l’ambassadeurJean-David Levitte de s’être porté volontaire pourprononcer un discours en son absence. Sans préparationni notes, M. Levitte a retracé les désaccords politiquesentre la France et les Etats-Unis, tout en précisant leursorigines, et en soulignant les développement positifsdepuis. Le succès de son discours a été tel que les invitésont affirmé avec optimisme que, étant donné l’excellentequalité de la représentation de la France aux Etats-Unis,les relations entre les deux pays ne sauraient que tendrevers une meilleure coopération.24