BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush joked Monday that he would have liked to bask in widespread European admiration as "a friend to humankind" -- but that he knew better.
Bush contrasted the welcome he expected to get to the glowing assessment early US diplomat and statesman Benjamin Franklin received two hundred years ago as ambassador to France, where he was "beloved and esteemed."
Bush quoted a contemporary's description of Franklin's standing in France, where "there was scarcely a peasant or citizen who did not consider him as a friend to humankind."
"I've been hoping for a similar reception," the US president quipped, drawing laughter that doubled when he added: "But Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice told me I should be a realist."
Ironically, one of Franklin's chief successes during his 1776-1785 stay in Paris was securing economic and military assistance from France during the war for American independence.
Bush failed in early 2003 to win France's support for the war in Iraq, and has struggled to get French President Jacques Chirac to provide economic assistance for building democracy there.
Bush was to host a peacemaking dinner for Chirac Monday at the US ambassador's residence in Brussels.
02/21/2005 18:48 GMT - AFP