Kerry vs history - the truth about diplomacy

He's no John F. Kennedy

Excerpt:

It used to be, Kerry reminds us, that American presidents consulted
our European allies before we decided to drop our bombs. Why, it even
used to be that we were trusted to behave this way by the French. Thus,
Cold War History 101, Professor Kerry (at NYU):

In the dark days of the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy sent
former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to Europe to build support.
Acheson explained the situation to French President de Gaulle. Then he
offered to show him highly classified satellite photos as proof. De
Gaulle waved him away, saying, "The word of the President of the United
States is good enough for me." How many world leaders have that same
trust in America's president today?

Politically devastating historical analogy--or totally bogus
fabrication? You be the judge.

Item the first: It's not true that Charles de Gaulle decided to forgo
any personal inspection of Acheson's evidence for the existence of a
Cuban-based Soviet military threat against the continental United
States. THE SCRAPBOOK refers you to a contemporary, eyewitness account
of the meeting by legendary CIA official Sherman Kent--the man who
actually carried the relevant satellite photos into the French
president's private office on October 22, 1962. First Kent showed de
Gaulle a large photo-composite map of Cuba, and "still standing," the
latter man "bent over it as I began to talk about the defensive phase."
De Gaulle remained standing, still bent over, while Kent then proceeded
to show him many, many similar such photos. So interested was Monsieur
le president in Kent's material that at one point he picked up a reading
glass in order to see the details more clearly.

Item the second: More basically, it's not even true that this October
22, 1962, episode reflected a serious effort by the Kennedy
administration to "consult" its European allies in the first place.
According to Jean Lacouture's standard two-volume biography of de
Gaulle, the very first thing the French president said to Dean Acheson
was this: "I understand that you have not come to consult me, but to
inform me." And the only thing Acheson offered de Gaulle by way of reply
was this: "That is correct."

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