A Lunch With Le Pen

Two generations ago your editor sat down to talk economic liberty with the notorious French rightist.

AP /Kamil Zihnioglu, File
National Front party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen clenches his fist at the statue of Joan of Arc, May 1, 2017, at Paris. AP /Kamil Zihnioglu, File

The death this morning of Jean Marie Le Pen takes us back — to a lunch with the rightist at Paris. It was a  memorable meal. We were then writing editorials for the Wall Street Journal, headquartered at Brussels. We were being importuned by a faction of American conservatives to try to find common ground with the French rightist. At the suggestion of the Journal’s editor, Robert Bartley, we invited Le Pen to lunch.

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