This paper examines the translations of speeches by French politicians and military men (Abbé Fauchet, Pierre-Auguste Adet, Napoléon Bonaparte, Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot) published in 1797 in the The Columbian Orator, an anthology compiled by Bostonian printer and minister Caleb Bingham. Because it was republished many times well into the 1830s, with a great number of copies circulating (up to 190,000), this book and the translations it contained played a significant role in shaping the image of France in the United States. The very personality of the authors, the topics they dealt with, their style and the global context in which the speeches were written, delivered and translated, shed light on the relationship between the two countries during that period and offer insight into the political and ideological factors underlying the selection and translation of texts at all times.