The aim of this article is to explore the extent to which the self-image of France expressed in relation to the United States has changed with changes in US foreign policy and paradigmatic changes in the international system. The article explores how the French political and intellectual elites related to the USA in the discourse of Le Monde and Le Figaro in 1984, 1994, 2004 and 2009. The analysis indicates that France's self-image is connected to multilateralism, liberalism and cultural protectionism. The stabilizing effect of political culture is suggested as an explanation for the fact that the press represented France's self-image in a more or less similar manner while different roles were ascribed to the USA over time.