[Rodney King]

It's not like the French helped us out of the kindness of their hearts, but rather out of a desire to stick it to the british. Regardless, our debt was more than repaid by WW1, let alone WW2.

[Oztrich Boy]

Absolutely.
And absent the French Revolution and Napoleon, a French Monarchy in the early 1800s would be looking to expand its New World domain rather conquer Europe.
And it wouldn't really care if the Anglo territories were ruled from London or Washington

[x]

It's not like the French helped us out of the kindness of their hearts, but rather out of a desire to stick it to the British.

True, but getting involved in our Revolution probably cost Louis his throne. It screwed up his finances to the point where he had to call the Estates General to get more money, and it spread revolutionary ideas. And the revolution that resulted plunged France into chaos and misery (offset for some people by Napoleonic gloire, but devastating to many more). The old saying that "no good deed goes unpunished" probably explains a lot about Franco-American relations -- on both sides.