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The Admiral paused. He evidently had in mind General Charles de Gaulle and the Fighting French—who had not imposed conditions. The Admiral's condition apparently was that the French must fight under "recognized leadership"—meaning himself. Said he: "French soldiers never like to be considered dissidents. They will follow me because I am a man whom Marshal Pétain appointed to take his place. That is the only reason French West Africa came into the new entente under my authority."
Admiral Darlan confirmed the hunch that U.S. Admiral William Daniel Leahy had a good deal to do with the African campaign. As long as a year ago, said Darlan, he and Admiral Leahy—then Ambassador to Vichy, now President Roosevelt's personal Chief of Staff—discussed U.S. intervention in Europe and its effect on the French. Admiral Darlan said that if the U.S. had then had 500,000 equipped troops available in Europe, "we could have acted differently."
Darlan was asked how he and the Americans were getting along, now that the situation had changed. The Admiral beamed and said: "Every day I want to congratulate myself on all my relations with all United States authorities here."
"For My Personal Ambition." Admiral Darlan said that he was lightening Vichy restrictions on Jews in French Africa and freeing men imprisoned "because of sympathy to the Allies" (a phrase which did not necessarily cover the thousands who were imprisoned in North Africa because they fought for Loyalist Spain). But the statement that most interested the world concerned Admiral Darlan himself. Said he:
"I have stated emphatically and repeatedly to Commander in Chief General Eisenhower that in leading North and West Africa . . . into the ranks of the United Nations I seek no assistance or support for my personal ambition. My sole purpose is to save French Africa, help to free France and then retire into private life with the hope that future leaders of France may be selected by the French people themselves and by no one else."
With the approval of President Roosevelt, the White House issued this statement to the U.S. press.
"I Eagerly Wish." To A.P.'s Correspondent Wes Gallagher, Darlan issued a supplementary statement. Gallagher had put his questions in writing:
Would the French warships at Dakar and Alexandria (the battleships Richelieu and Lorraine, seven cruisers, six destroyers, ten submarines) be used against the Axis?
Darlan: "Definitely, yes."
What about General de Gaulle and the Fighting French?
Darlan: "I, for the present time, have no statement to make on the subject, but I eagerly wish that all Frenchmen who wish to fight the Axis will do it in close union."
Pledge and Promise. Up to this week, President Roosevelt had not amended what he said Nov. 17: "I thoroughly understand and approve the feeling in the U.S. and Great Britain and among all the other United Nations that . . . no permanent arrangement should be made with Admiral Darlan . . . The present temporary arrangement in North Africa is only a temporary expedient, justified solely by the stress of battle."