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Photos for french TV performance. Scene attene culturelle, Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris. 19th june, 1969.

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“All I need from you is all your love, all you gotta give to me is, all your love”

Out on the tiles

Our countdown to America250 continues with this gem from John Paul Jones.

FDR was fascinated by Jones, the naval hero of the Revolutionary War who is considered the "father" of the United States Navy. Jones triumphed in a famous 1779 naval clash that pitted the outgunned USS Bonhomme Richard against the British frigate HMS Serapis. During the desperate battle, Jones is reputed to have shouted, "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Roosevelt collected many items related to Jones, including portraits, prints, drawings, and manuscripts. During the early 1920s, he even wrote a treatment for a feature film that would be based on Jones's life. But his efforts to interest Hollywood in the project proved fruitless.

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was a Scottish-born sailor who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). His raid on the English port town of Whitehaven in 1778 and his victory over the HMS Serapis the following year turned him into a war hero and led many to consider him the 'Father of the American Navy'.

Jones began his maritime career at the age of 13, serving aboard various merchant vessels and slave ships. After killing a mutinous sailor in the West Indies, he fled to the British colony of Virginia and joined the Continental Navy when the American Revolution broke out in 1775. He was given command of the USS Ranger, which he used to attack British commercial shipping in the Irish and North Seas. He raided Whitehaven, plotted to kidnap the Earl of Selkirk, and commanded the USS Bonhomme Richard in its grueling, 3-hour naval duel with HMS Serapis. These actions cemented Jones' reputation as one of the best naval commanders in US history. After the war, the Continental Navy was disbanded, leading Jones without prospects. He therefore entered the service of the Russian Empire in 1787 but left in disgrace two years later, after sexual assault allegations against him sparked an international scandal. He died in Paris on 18 July 1792 at the age of 45.

Early Life

On 6 July 1747, John Paul was born at the estate of Arbigland in the county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland – he would not add 'Jones' to his name until he came to America. His father was the head gardener at Arbigland and had seven children, five of whom would survive to adulthood. Though John Paul attended the nearby Kirkbean School, his true education occurred at Carsethorn, the local port. He would spend much of his free time there, breathing in the briny sea air, marveling at the comings and goings of ships, and talking with sailors, learning everything he could about life at sea. Paul could not long resist the call of the sea and, at the age of 13, he obtained an apprenticeship with John Younger, a Scottish merchant and shipowner operating out of the English port town of Whitehaven.

It was not long before John Paul embarked on his first voyage, sailing out of Whitehaven aboard one of Younger's vessels, the Friendship, as a ship's boy. The voyage took Paul across the Americas, stopping first at Barbados before sailing up to the British colony of Virginia. Here, Paul briefly reunited with his older brother, Thomas, who had previously emigrated to Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1764, upon returning to Whitehaven, Paul was released from his apprenticeship early, because Younger's business had gone bankrupt. He found work aboard a slave ship and spent the next three years transporting human cargo from Guinea to Jamaica. In 1766, the 19-year-old Paul became first mate of the slave ship Two Friends, a lucrative position. However, he gradually grew disillusioned with the slave trade and became disgusted at his own role in perpetuating it. In 1768, he abandoned the Two Friends while it was docked in Kingston, Jamaica, and booked passage on a ship bound for Scotland.

Not long into the voyage, both the ship's captain and first mate died of yellow fever. Since there was no one else on board who knew how to navigate a ship, Paul took charge and guided the vessel safely to Scotland. The ship's grateful owners rewarded Paul with ten percent of the vessel's cargo. Impressed with his nautical skills, they also offered him the captaincy of a merchant brig named John. Paul accepted and captained two voyages to the West Indies. It was during his second voyage, in 1770, that Paul had the ship's carpenter flogged with cat-o'-nine-tails as punishment for neglect of duty. The carpenter died at sea several weeks later. When the John returned to port, Paul was arrested and imprisoned at Kirkcudbright Tolbooth, charged by the dead man's father of having caused his death. Paul maintained that the carpenter's death had been unrelated to the flogging, that it had instead been caused by yellow fever. After producing several witnesses to substantiate this claim, Paul was acquitted, although the incident left a dark stain on his reputation.

In 1772, Paul once again sailed into the West Indies, this time captaining a merchant vessel called Betsy. Toward the end of the voyage, in 1773, the Betsy arrived at Tobago, where several sailors decided to stage a mutiny. Paul responded to the mutineers' demands by running the ringleader through with his sword, killing him. Although Paul would always claim that he had acted out of self-defense, he knew that the public opinion in Tobago would be against him, since the man he had killed had been a local. To evade a trial, he fled to mainland North America, where he added 'Jones' to his name to help conceal his identity. After the death of his brother William, he went to Fredericksburg, Virginia, to settle his affairs and decided to live there himself.