The Foreign Service Journal, March 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2014 23 Excerpts from the oral histories of six diplomats give a flavor of the challenges, as well as the lighter moments, of a Foreign Service career. TELLING OUR STORIES FOCUS I n this 90th-anniversary year of the U.S. Foreign Service, it is fitting to remind ourselves and the American public of the vital role the Service plays in ensuring our country’s prosperity and security. And what better way to understand the work of diplo- macy than to have diplomats themselves talk about their experiences? Here we present excerpts (with light editing for clarity) from the oral histories of six Foreign Service officers recorded by the Foreign Affairs Oral History program of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. The selections, one from each decade between 1940 and 2000, give a window into the challenges, as well as the lighter moments, of a diplomatic career. ADST’s Oral History program conducts interviews for the largest collection of diplomatic oral histories in the world— there are now more than 1,800 transcripts, and the archive continues to grow under the direction of its founder, retired FSO and interviewer extraordinaire Charles Stuart Kennedy. ADST was founded in 1986 as a nonprofit organization to advance knowledge of U.S. diplomacy and support training at the Foreign Service Institute. To achieve those goals, it pursues programs in oral history, publishing, educational websites, social media and exhibits, and serves as a foundation to obtain THE FOREIGNAFFAIRS ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION