Symposium to be held at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 2025
YORBA LINDA, CA — The Richard Nixon Foundation and the George Pompidou Institute have partnered to organize a day-long symposium titled “President Nixon and President Pompidou: History and New Perspectives in the United States, France and Europe” that will be hosted on October 1, 2025, at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The symposium will bring together prominent European and American historians, scholars, archivists, and government leaders to examine key aspects of the Nixon-Pompidou era and the legacy of both presidents. The discussions will focus on how the lessons from that period can be applied to contemporary relations between the United States and the European Union.
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday in 2026, this symposium underscores the deep and enduring diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and France—one that dates back to America’s founding. Presidents Richard Nixon and Georges Pompidou, who both served from 1969 to 1974, forged a consequential partnership during a critical phase of the Cold War. Their accomplishments include strengthening the transatlantic alliance, advancing U.S.-French collaboration on economic and security issues, and shaping a more pragmatic and strategic era of diplomacy.
The symposium begins at 9:00am (ET) with opening remarks that will be followed by five panel discussions and a luncheon. It is free to attend, but registration is required.
Participants Include:
- Adam Howard, Executive Director of the International Churchill Society
- Anthony Teasdale, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics and Columbia University; former Director General, European Parliamentary Research Service
- Bénédicte Fichet, Heritage Curator at the National Archives of France
- Benoit d’Aboville, Former Ambassador, Permanent Representative to NATO Associate Research Fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) Vice President of the Society for General and Diplomatic History
- Bettina Laville, Honorary Councillor of State; President, Paris Institute for Advanced Study
- Christian de Boissieu, Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne President of the Concorde Foundation and Vice President of the Cercle des Économistes
- Christian Lequesne, Professor of political science at Sciences Po, Paris
- Daniel J. Sargent, Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of American History and American Citizenship at the University of California, Berkeley
- Dieter Schlenker, Director, Historical Archives of the European Union European University Institute
- Dominic Grieve, Co-President of European Movement UK, former Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield, and former Attorney General of England and Wales
- Edward C. Wallace, Chair of the French American Foundation USA and Co-Chair of the New York City office of Greenberg Traurig
- Félix Torres, Historian
- François Heisbourg, Conseiller spécial (special adviser), Fondation pour la recherche Stratégique
- Guy Norris, Senior Editor, Aviation Week & Space Technology\
- Jérémie Gallon, Head of Europe and Co-Head Eurasia at McLarty Associates
- Klaus Larres, Richard M Krasno Distinguished Professor of History and International Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill
- Laurent Cesari, Professor of modern international relations history at the University of Artois (Arras, France), from 1999 to 2024.
- Luke A. Nichter, Professor of History and James H. Cavanaugh Endowed Chair in Presidential Studies at Chapman University
- Marc Trachtenberg, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California at Los Angeles
- Nicolas Baverez, Lawyer, partner at August Debouzy, an essayist and a columnist in Le Point and Le Figaro
- Tamara Martin, Acting Executive for the Office of Presidential Libraries and the Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum at the National Archives and Records Administration
- Thomas A. Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History, Professor of Political Science and European Studies, Vanderbilt University
Guests who would like to attend must register in advance here.
The conference will be available to livestream on the Richard Nixon Foundation’s X and YouTube accounts.
This conference is open to media. To request media credentials, please contact
Carrie Anderson by emailing carriea@nixonfoundation.org.
About the Richard Nixon Foundation
The Richard Nixon Foundation applies the legacy and vision of President Richard Nixon to defining issues that face our nation and the world today. The Yorba Linda-based Foundation actively encourages and supports scholarship, sponsors in-person and online programs that engage the public with American civics, creates and promotes educational programs and exhibits rooted in American history, and fosters discussion and debate about America’s thirty-seventh president.
The Richard Nixon Foundation owns the nine-acre campus on which the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum sits. The Yorba Linda campus includes the home in which President Nixon was born in 1913, and the flower-ringed Memorial Site of President and Mrs. Nixon. The Richard Nixon Foundation jointly co-operates the presidential library site with the National Archives and Records Administration.
About the Institut Georges Pompidou
The Georges Pompidou Institute, chaired by former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, is dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy and ideas of Georges Pompidou.
Founded in 1989 as an association of the former President’s close collaborators — at the initiative of former Prime Ministers Pierre Messmer and Édouard Balladur — and officially recognized as a public-interest organization in 1993, the Institute works with the support of the Prime Minister’s Office and in close collaboration with the academic community.
Its mission is carried out through conferences, publications, and a comprehensive oral history program that includes 180 interviews totaling 800 hours of recorded testimony.
Its commemorative mission has long shaped its activities — most notably the 50th anniversary of President Pompidou’s passing in 2024, held under the high patronage of the President of the French Republic.
Today, the Institute has a dual purpose: to support academic research and to share Pompidou’s vision and achievements — in politics, economics, industry, culture, and more — with a broad audience in France and abroad, including students, citizens, policymakers, and thought leaders, to inform public debate and inspire responses to contemporary challenges.
The Georges Pompidou Institute is currently transitioning into a public-interest foundation, opening new avenues for private sponsorship and philanthropic support.
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