French-American Foundation

The idea was born in 1973 between Ambassador James G. Lowenstein, James Chace, editor-in-chief of Foreign Affairs, both members of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank, and Nicholas Wahl, a specialist of post-war France at Princeton University.^[5] In order to counter an anti-French sentiment within the State Department, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the press, as well as anti-Americanism among the French elite, the three men grew the desire to create a structure dedicated to friendship between the US and its oldest ally, and outside government control, unlike the existing exchange programs led by the State Department since 1941.^[6]

The Young Leaders program is the flagship program of the French-American Foundation.^[7] The program was created in 1981, under the sponsorship of Princeton French-American economist Ezra Suleiman who remained its president until 2000.^[8] It was initially intended as a response to observations that the close working relationships between French and American leaders in the post-war period were waning as new, younger leaders rose with little exposure to their transatlantic counterparts. 38 years later, it still plays a key role in the creation of transatlantic bonds, with more than 500 leaders in government, business, media, military, culture and the non-profit sector having taken part.^[7]

Every year, juries in France and the United States select a small group (around twenty) of French and Americans between 30 and 40, that are destined to hold a leadership position in their field and to play an important role in a globalized world.^[8] The selected Young Leaders then participate in two five-day seminars, alternatively in the U.S. and France, with the opportunity to discuss issues of common concern and, more importantly, get to know each other and create durable bonds.^[9][10][11]

The Annual Gala is the principal fundraising event of the French-American Foundation. Each year at the Gala, the Foundation presents its Benjamin Franklin Award to two individuals who have made significant contributions to the French-American relationship. The Comte de Vergennes Award is presented to longtime supporters of the French-American Foundation.

Past honorees include: Anne Lauvergeon, Patricia Russo, Ambassador Anne Cox Chambers, Henri de Castries, John A. Thain, Hon. C. Douglas Dillon, Hon. Walter J. P. Curley, Médecins Sans Frontières, Bernard Arnault, Michel David-Weill, the Forbes family, Maurice Lévy, and Frederick W. Smith.

The FAF awards annually the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize.^[16] The prize has been awarded since 1986. Since 2003, there have been two awards, one fiction, and one nonfiction. The prizes are not limited to contemporary works; Lydia Davis won in 2004 for her translation of Marcel Proust's Swann's Way. Arthur Goldhammer won in 2005 for his translation of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America.

• France–United States relations