The Foreign Service Journal, April 2015

86 APRIL 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL All About Ambassadors American Ambassadors:The Past, Present and Future of America’s Diplomats Dennis C. Jett, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014, $40, paperback, 283 pages. Reviewed by Tracy Whittington Arriving in Argentina as an entry- level officer in 1973, a young Dennis Jett saw firsthand the damage a “lightweight” political ambassa- dor could do. Despite the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Latin American country, Nixon appoin- tee John Davis Lodge spent more time pushing for coverage of his dinner parties in the society pages than paying attention to whether Peronist officials were open to a relationship with the United States. So begins Jett’s timely new book, American Ambassadors: The Past, Present and Future of America’s Diplomats. The volume offers a readable account of the qualifications and career trajectories of these important appointees. After provid- ing a brief history of the position through- out American history, Jett describes the “traditional route” to becoming an ambassador: the Foreign Service exam, the hardships of working overseas, the promo- tion process and, ultimately, the D (Deputy Secretaries) Committee. Particularly useful are his candid opin- ions on why certain Foreign Service cones are under- or over-represented among the top echelon. All FSOs who have their sights set on earning the honorific “Amb.” before their names might want to bookmark these pages. While Jett recounts the steps for career appointees in a fairly straightforwardman- ner, he turns to a series of examples to illus- trate the “non-traditional,” aka political, route to becoming an ambassador. Noting that “presidents do not appoint non-career ambassadors solely because of merit,” Jett acquaints us with a parade of campaign donors, college roommates, military offi- cers (to give the appearance of strength on national defense) and political allies—all recipients of the ambassadorial title. He continues with the vetting process and the potential missteps a nominee canmake, may have already made or, worse yet, failed to disclose. Additional chapters explain the duties of an ambassador and where non-career ambassadors generally go (spoiler alert: Western Europe and the Caribbean). Despite the wealth of information, Jett’s approach of interspersing extended, dry explana- tions of government forms with gossipy anecdotes (andmore than a few politi- cal comments unrelated to the matter at hand) too often entertained without edifying. He relies heavily on oral histories, inspection reports and press briefings. The former leads to an overabundance of information on the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations’ selection processes, and the latter on the well-known failings of Barack Obama’s non-career nominees (e.g., George Tsunis, Colleen Bell, NoahMamet) and ambas- sadors (e.g., Nicole Avant, Cynthia Stroum, Scott Gration). It’s difficult to draw conclu- sions from this handful of examples, and Jett doesn’t really try. The reader waits in vain for the author to pull together all the stories, quotations, interviews and transcripts into a rigorous argument for or against non-career ambas- sadors. Although he lays to rest a few old tropes (an ambassador who is a presiden- tial pal can get easier access, for example), he leaves many others unrebutted. When the author does tackle tough questions—what makes a good ambassa- dor (Chapter 5), or whether the arguments for political appointees are valid (Chapter 7)—he soon gets sidetracked by compar- ing presidential letters of instruction or listing outstanding international treaties. He barely skims the philosophical surface of the issue before backing off and offering prescriptions that are both uncontroversial (greater transparency in campaign con- tributions) and relatively minor (greater congressional interest in the language qualifications of nominees). I finished American Ambassadors dismayed, not by what the book is—a solid treatment of the subject—but by what it could have been. Jett missed an opportu- nity to systematically examine how non- career chiefs of mission harm (or benefit) all aspects of diplomacy and a diplomatic career: the mentoring of entry-level officers, embassy management, political and economic reporting, public diplomacy work, the development of career officers, ethics and U.S. standing in the world, to name a few. With the general public and political pundits weighing in freely on the merits of campaign donor appointees, stron- ger conclusions from a respected career ambassador and academic would have been welcome. n Tracy Whittington, a Foreign Service public diplomacy officer since 2005, works in the Foreign Service Director General’s Office of Policy Coordination. She previously served in Kinshasa, Montreal, the Operations Center and La Paz. Amember of the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board, she is the author of Claiming Your History: How to Incorporate Your Past into Your Present and, with her tandem spouse, Eric, A Street Dog’s Story: The Almost 100% True Adventures of Labi.