30 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 1993: GEORGE H.W. BUSH TO BILL CLINTON “A Message to the President-elect” January 1993, AFSA Views The following letter was sent to Governor [William Jefferson] Clinton immediately after his election. The Foreign Service is well-positioned to serve the country in the post-Cold War era. As a nation we are moving internationally from military confrontation to economic competition and to the need to deal with a variety of global problems with serious domestic implications. Indeed, domestic and foreign policy are increasingly interconnected. In that context, the career professionals of the Foreign Service can provide policy recommendations based solely on the national interest and professional implementation of the policies you choose to pursue. Challenges and Opportunities. As the first president elected since the end of the Cold War, you face unprecedented challenges and opportunities. The challenges arise from the need to redefine our nation’s role in a changing world and to lead our people to understand that the domestic problems which they understandably are anxious to confront are inextricably linked to our success in retaining American leadership abroad. If this can be done, opportunities exist to use that American leadership to encourage democratic change, foster free market forces and confront the many global ills that threaten to overwhelm us all. The Role of the Foreign Service. In confronting these challenges and seizing these opportunities, you will find a unique resource in the Foreign Service. Negotiating expertise, language skills and familiarity with diverse societies around the globe will be increasingly important in this new era, as will proven experience in public diplomacy and economic cooperation. The Foreign Service offers all this, as well as the skills required to maintain over 250 posts abroad and keep them in constant contact with Washington. In addition, a new Foreign Affairs Reserve Corps, comprised of experienced foreign service retirees available for prompt deployment, provides a cost-efficient means of meeting emergencies. Strengthening the Foreign Service. In order for the Foreign Service to serve the nation most effectively, it must be strengthened. In recent years, its numbers have not risen to keep pace with its increased responsibilities. We must recruit more of the best our nation has to offer and ensure that they accurately reflect the diversity of our population. We must provide them with the best possible training to prepare them for our new challenges, particularly in the economic and commercial areas. And we must ensure that service abroad remains attractive for employees and their families. To do so requires resources. All government agencies face budgetary constraints at this time, especially in light of pressing domestic needs. But the strength of our nation is too closely tied to our diplomatic efforts to allow for reductions in the budgets of the foreign affairs agencies or failure to maintain adequate levels of foreign assistance. As military spending declines, the foreign affairs agencies should receive sufficient spending to enable them to maintain U.S. leadership abroad. Political Appointees. The qualities required to be a successful ambassador abroad or to serve at senior levels in the foreign affairs agencies in Washington are to be found in career diplomats. These qualities are particularly important. 2001: BILL CLINTON TO GEORGE W. BUSH “State and Congress: An Up-Hill Battle?” by Marshall P. Adair January 2001, President’s Views We are beginning a new year and a new administration with a closely divided government. Scholars of American democracy have long argued that bipartisan cooperation is important to effective government. The most recent election has made it an absolute necessity. Nowhere is the need so pressing or the opportunity so great as in the conduct of America’s foreign relations. Perhaps there is an opportunity for the next secretary of State to promote cooperation by overhauling State’s congressional relations. The career professionals of the Foreign Service can provide policy recommendations based solely on the national interest and professional implementation of the policies you choose to pursue.
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