As a tiny, oil-less country that has historically been turned toward Europe, it can sometimes seem that Tunisia is too far removed to be a real strategic partner for the United States. So it might seem surprising that on May 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood smiling on the tarmac at the Washington National Airport, ready to greet Tunisia’s first president, Habib Bourguiba.

“I think that it's most proper that the first head of state to pay an official state visit to this country in this administration should be President Bourguiba,” Kennedy said, waiting at the airport. The two presidents, who had been friends for years, greeted each other warmly, toasted each other at a state dinner and drove around New York in a convertible.

Tunisia’s relationship with the United States dates back to 1799 when — at the urging of John Adams — the two countries signed an agreement of trade and friendship. After Tunisia officially gained independence from its French colonizers in 1956, the United States was the first major power to recognize a sovereign Tunisia.

“US aid was very important in the early years of the republic, [in terms of] building infrastructure, the military [and] technical trainings,” Youssef Cherif, a Tunisian political analyst, told Al-Monitor.