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While Mitterrand did not seek Washington's imprimatur per se, he tried to convince American diplomats that Communist participation in the French government would not endanger Western security interests. This article argues that this proved relatively easy in Paris where the US embassy was mostly staffed by liberal Foreign Service officers who saw Mitterrand as the CP's grave digger. In Washington, however, the executive was most concerned about Communist participation in a West European government and was thus hostile towards Mitterrand's Union of the Left. In order to allay those fears, Mitterrand relied on individual initiatives by fellow Socialists traveling to the US who, without instructions from him, attempted to convince their American contacts of the CP's harmlessness. Under President Carter, the Socialists could count on pro-Socialist Party administration officials. Though such contacts had few short-term consequences, they eventually "paid off.". Adapted from the source document.