Harriman Eulogized With French Honors

In the garden where she hosted countless glamorous soirees, U.S. Ambassador Pamela Harriman was eulogized by French President Jacques Chirac and American officials Saturday as an effective mediator in often-testy relations.

Marines and French Republican guards joined in a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy residence that was steeped in symbolism, aimed at demonstrating that despite sometimes deep policy rifts, the two countries are still friends.

In the most potent symbol, Chirac awarded Harriman France’s highest award, rarely given to a foreigner. He placed the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor on her casket, draped with the American flag.

Harriman, who died Wednesday at 76 after suffering a stroke, was a British-born socialite and grande dame of the Democratic Party who gained the respect of the French as a Clinton confidante with a European background.

Joining Chirac in the hourlong ceremony was his foreign minister, Herve de Charette; Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, U.S. national security advisor; former U.S. House Speaker Thomas S. Foley; Donald Bandler, the embassy’s charge d’affaires; and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger.

Marine guards carried Harriman’s casket to a waiting hearse, which was escorted to the airport by De Charette, the Harriman family and leading embassy aides.

An Air Force jet transported the flag-draped coffin to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. There, at a ceremony led by her son Winston Churchill and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Harriman was remembered as a bright light of American diplomacy.

Churchill said Clinton, who will deliver the eulogy at Harriman’s funeral in Washington on Thursday, “does my mother the highest honor.” Harriman is to be buried at the Harriman family estate in New York.