Word: pinay
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Dates: during 1952-1952
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Vision & Venom. Shrewd Premier Pinay, who likes to pose as no politician, just a technician, had lasted in office seven months. But as the National Assembly prepared to convene after a three months' recess, he was in a hot fight for survival. "I have the people behind me and Parliament in front of me," Pinay often says. His opposition in Parliament-Gaullists, Communists, and to some extent, Socialists -were all crying for the head of Pinay's Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman...
...NATO and gave his name to the plan for a great six-nation coal and steel community. Yet these days Robert Schuman's place in history is more secure than his place in current French politics: if the opposition could knock off Schuman, they could probably topple Pinay, who needs the 98 votes of Schuman's party, the MRP, to stay in office...
...Parliament opened, Pinay met with his cabinet, and beat the opposition to the first move. He issued a truculent statement that France would stand no "interference," by the U.N. or anybody else, in her troubled North African affairs (see below). The motion for an immediate debate on foreign policy was defeated, 394-223. But Pinay's biggest triumph was still to come...
Dollars & Diplomats. Two months ago, trying to balance his '53 military budget, Pinay had written to U.S. Ambassador James C. Dunn asking how many U.S. dollars he could count on. Ever since, Dunn had been trying to get an answer out of the State Department and the Pentagon. Last week he had it. Pinay had hoped to get $650 million, which he needed to balance his budget without increasing taxes, as he had pledged his country. But the U.S. Congress had cut foreign aid appropriations, and what France was going to get was $525 million...
...nice, polite, formal letter saying this was sent to Ambassador Dunn from Washington to transmit to Pinay. Along with it, Dunn got a set of instructions which diplomats call "verbal comments to be used in the course of conversation," i.e., what he might say to pacify Pinay, who, after all, was going to get barely more than half a billion dollars. Usually diplomats memorize such aids to conversation, or if they quote from them, are careful not to hand over the texts to their hosts. Gist of this oral message, prepared in Washington: if France spends her $525 million wisely...