Opinion surveys over the last forty years consistently include JFK in the front rank of presidents with Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and, most recently, Ronald Reagan.

NPR: 'Let Every Nation Know': JFK in His Own Words

If we take the steps set out today, and deal with all the different avenues of migration, legal and illegal, then levels of immigration can return to where they were in the 1980s and 90s, a time when immigration was not a front rank political issue.

BBC: In full: David Cameron immigration speech

The result can be a pomposity that is almost buffoonish in a world where France is no longer a front-rank power.

CNN: HE BRITISH FORCES LANDED