July 8, 1951 – Senator John Kennedy Responds to Criticism of His Call for Algerian Independence

As Ronald J. Nurse pointed out in “Critic of Colonialism: JFK and Algerian Independence,” The Historian, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Feb, 1977), pp. 307-326, John F. Kennedy, while serving in Congress from 1947 to 1960, “spoke early and often in opposition to Western colonial policies, particularly those of the French….” Furthermore, on numerous occasions, Nurse avers, Kennedy “spoke of the common ‘revolutionary tradition’ between America and the emerging nations of Africa and Southeast Asia.” His interest in them was always tied closely to a strong commitment to anticommunism. He thought flexibility more efficacious in countering the spread of communism than rigidity.

John F. Kennedy, 1957

On July 2, 1957, Senator Kennedy made a speech on the Senate floor publicly denouncing French colonialism in Algeria, as well as both Soviet and western imperialism, couching his remarks as a plea to President Eisenhower:

Mr. President, the most powerful single force in the world today is neither communism nor capitalism, neither the H-bomb nor the guided missile it is man’s eternal desire to be free and independent. The great enemy of that tremendous force of freedom is called, for want of a more precise term, imperialism – and today that means Soviet imperialism and, whether we like it or not, and though they are not to be equated, Western imperialism.

Thus the single most important test of American foreign policy today is how we meet the challenge of imperialism, what we do to further man’s desire to be free. On this test more than any other, this Nation shall be critically judged by the uncommitted millions in Asia and Africa, and anxiously watched by the still hopeful lovers of freedom behind the Iron Curtain. If we fail to meet the challenge of either Soviet or Western imperialism, then no amount of foreign aid, no aggrandizement of armaments, no new pacts or doctrines or high-level conferences can prevent further setbacks to our course and to our security.

Mr. President, the war in Algeria confronts the United States with its most critical diplomatic impasse since the crisis in Indochina – and yet we have not only failed to meet the problem forthrightly and effectively, we have refused to even recognize that it is our problem at all.”

He warned that the battle against communism would be lost unless the West assist the Algerian cause:

The time has come when our Government must recognize, that this is no longer a French problem alone; and that the time has passed, where a series of piecemeal adjustments, or even a last attempt to incorporate Algeria fully within France, can succeed. The time has come for the United States to face the harsh realities of the situation and to fulfill its responsibilities as leader of the free world – in the U.N., in NATO, in the administration of our aid programs and in the exercise of our diplomacy – in shaping a course toward political independence for Algeria.”

He then submitted a resolution outlining what he saw as the best hope for peace and settlement in Algeria.

Needless to say, the French were appalled, and the French Ambassador asked Secretary of State John Foster Dulles “to do something to mitigate the effects of the speech and not let it go unanswered.”

Paratroopers stop Algerians from demonstrating against French colonial rule in the European districts of Algiers (AFP)

The Department of State Office of the Historian relates:

At a press conference on July 2, Dulles defended France’s record and stated his opposition to U.S. involvement in the matter. (Department of State Bulletin, July 22, 1957, pp. 142–143) At a news conference on July 3, Eisenhower stated that U.S. policy would be impartial and helpful. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957, pp. 515–527)”

Meanwhile, Jackie Kennedy wrote her in-laws about the ruckus:

“Who cares if you never go to another ball at the French Embassy, and if Dior has you bounced out of the fitting room. We can always go and eat sheep’s eyes with the Arabs.” (Michael O’Brien, John F. Kennedy: A Biography, 2005)

On this day in history, July 8, 1957, Kennedy felt compelled to issue a statement replying to the criticisms of his speech. He observed:

The reaction to my remarks both at home and abroad has further strengthened my conviction that the situation in Algeria is drifting dangerously, with the French authorities refusing to seek a fresh approach and our American authorities refusing to recognize the grave international implications of this impasse.”

He conceded:

Of course Algeria is a ‘complicated’ problem. Of course we should not assume full responsibility for that problem’s solution in France’s stead. And of course, the Soviet Union is guilty of far worse examples of imperialism. But we cannot long ignore as none of our business, or as a French internal problem, a struggle for independence that has been and will be a major issue before the U.N., that has denuded NATO of its armies, drained the resources of our French allies, threatened the continuation of Western influence and bases in North Africa and bitterly split the ‘Free World’ we claim to be leading.”

He lost that battle, but only because he was ahead of his time. In March 1962, France granted independence to Algeria.