The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

FSJ July 1924 Mr. Carr Surveys the Rogers Bill The stability of the career and the permanence of its personnel have been assured. All the vulnerable features of the old regime have been replaced by solid barriers against meddling and uncertainty. A young officer just entering the Service will find that he is offered a course of invaluable instruction before entering upon his permanent duties, but that at the same time he will be on probation and his every act and qualification open to the severest scrutiny with respect to his personal fitness. –Wilbur Carr, assistant secretary of State FSJ October 1924 A New Name: The American Foreign Service Journal FSJ October 1930 American Foreign Service as an Instrument of World Peace The members of the Foreign Service of the United States have, for many years, acted as American outposts of peace in all parts of the world. The mission of these men is to promote the international understanding which leads to confidence and friendship and permits nations, however dif- ferent their traditions and ideals may be, to deal intelligently with each other. …Few Americans realize the immense value of these officers in maintaining peace. –Hon. Frank B. Kellogg, former Secretary of State FSJ April 1933 Memorial Tablet, Department of State The Memorial Tablet erected by mem- bers of the American Foreign Service Association in honor of the diplomatic and consular officers who while on active duty lost their lives under tragic or heroic circumstances was unveiled on Friday morning, March 3, at 10 o’clock, by the Hon. Henry L. Stim- son, Secretary of State and honorary president of the American Foreign Service Association. –Unsigned THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2018 51 DEFINING DIPLOMACY for YEARS Above inSILVERFOILonCover FSJ January 1934 We Recognize the Soviet Union “Moscow, December 11, 1933 “Secretary of State, Washington “Arrived. Will present credentials Wednesday noon. Bullitt” The above telegram, the first the Department of State has received from any American official in Russia since the dark days when our relations with that country were severed, explains itself. … –Walter A. Foote FSJ January 1936 The Utility of a Trained and Permanent Foreign Service The one department of the Government most urgently demanding a continuing policy is that charged with executing the nation’s foreign policy. Although cabinets and Governments may change, the foreign problems of a nation transcend the platforms of political parties, for issues between neighboring nations continue regardless of changes in the complexion of the officials in power at home. Sudden change of diplomatic and consular personnel does more than merely wreck the careers of the persons involved—it wrecks the policy of the nation, rendering it vacillating, uncertain, and unsuccessful. –George Allen, vice consul FSJ November 1937 The American Foreign Service: An Outline Appraisal 13 Years after the Rogers Act While in the first years after the Rogers Act all but the malcontents of the Service were greatly pleased with the step forward that had been taken, and while during the depression the Service in unshaken loy- alty realized that further improvements were inop- portune, in more recent years there has been noticeable a growing spirit of criticism among the members of the Ser- vice who feel the need of new legislation and regulations to remedy certain failings of the Service and to cover certain deficiencies in the provisions of the original Rogers Bill. –Seldin Chapin, FSO April 1924 FSJ