He’s since converted that fascination into a lucrative business decoding the unconscious thoughts hidden behind words and expressions, primarily for advertisers. After moving to the United States in 1983, he’s worked for 50 of the 100 biggest American companies cited by Fortune magazine, including Ford and AT&T. Even U.S. presidential candidates have sought his counsel on how to appeal to the American public. The 62-year-old naturalized American citizen and former French Embassy cultural attache (in Nicaragua) shared his insights about his adopted country with NEWSWEEK’s Eric Pape. Excerpts:

PAPE: What exactly do you do?

RAPAILLE: I ask, “Why do people do what they do?” Sometimes our behavior doesn’t make sense. Why do we need a Hummer or a four-wheel drive just to go shopping? People buy off-road vehicles even though 97 percent of them never go off-road. My work is like psychoanalyzing a culture.

In French the sun, le soleil, is masculine. Louis XIV used it as a male symbol. In German, it is feminine. Germans will tell you: “Of course it is female, she brings warmth, she makes things grow.” If you sell shampoo in Europe and you want to use the sun to do it, you need to know that it doesn’t mean the same thing in France and Germany.

What do Americans need to understand about themselves?

This is an adolescent culture. They never follow up on anything. They seek short-term, quick gratification. They go to Iraq: “Done! Now let’s go back home.” But they didn’t plan ahead–they never plan ahead. At the start of the war, the soldiers were going so fast that they didn’t have enough food or fuel. Then they hired all these Iraqis to be police, but they didn’t have the money on hand to pay them. This is adolescent. Right now the world needs parents, and the world’s parent is the U.S., and it is an adolescent.

Also, Americans really enjoy violence, against people and things. I was invited to Las Vegas for the destruction of a building that was still functional. It was a party with champagne and then a big explosion at the end. We like the power of destruction because afterwards we can rebuild, we can start from scratch.

What do foreigners need to understand about the United States?

That there are two sides here. It isn’t just Bush. America is a brand of democracy that is unique in the world. Americans are more anti-American than even the French are. We have nearly 300 million people here, and about 150 million are against Bush. If all 60 million French people are against Bush, it is a fraction of the opposition in the U.S.

Name one thing about the current president that appeals to American sensibilities.

He has a ranch. Reagan had his ranch. You invite people to the ranch. You drink beer. Everyone in America, in a sense, has a horse in their family tree. Compare that with Kerry’s $5 million home in Sundance, Colorado, to ski; that is… more European, like a house in Gstaad.

What’s your advice to the U.S. presidential candidates?

Forty percent of people always vote Democrat and 40 percent vote Republican, so the 20 percent in the middle are the ones who matter. They are plain Americans. You have to understand how people feel. Kerry should dress differently. He takes off his expensive coat, and he still looks rich in an expensive shirt. He should start shopping at Kmart–and buy a ranch. Go drink beer with the guy in the local bar. Listen to real people. Do a “listening tour,” like Hillary [Clinton] did in New York.

Bush is a very simple guy. I don’t think he has to fake that. When you ask a question, he gives a gut answer, and even when he is wrong, many people like him. The American bias that Bush expresses is: I don’t know what I will do, but let’s do it. I don’t know where to go, but let’s go.

But we need a very clear plan about Iraq and the economy, and “wait and figure it out later” just won’t do it. Bush has the determination, but the Kerry campaign will paint him as stubborn, and Bush doesn’t want to get trapped in that box.

Why do people contact a Frenchman to understand Americans?

The fish doesn’t understand the water. Americans studying American culture think that everything is natural. Watching from outside the box can be very powerful.