The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2018 53 DEFINING DIPLOMACY for YEARS Above inSILVERFOILonCover FSJ September 1946 How the Legislation Developed It is probably difficult for those who have not been closely associated with a similar venture to understand how much work is involved in the drafting of a law as extensive as is the Foreign Service Act of 1946. …The drafters of the Bill believed that experience had demonstrated that a career Service is the best means of ensuring proper conduct of our foreign relations. On the other hand, it must be realized that the desirability of having a career Foreign Service has been seriously under question in recent years. The drafters of the new legislation sought to reconcile these viewpoints. –Julian F. Harrington, deputy director of the Office of the Foreign Service FSJ May 1949 Signing the North Atlantic Pact President Harry S Truman and Vice President Barkley look on as Secretary of State Dean Acheson signs the North Atlantic Pact. John W. Foley Jr., of the Legal Adviser’s office, is at Mr. Acheson’s left. FSJ October 1949 Some Thoughts on Service Morale That the Director-General of the Foreign Service should not be consulted about legislation intimately affecting the Service is almost incredible. [Months earlier the adminis- trative offices of the Service had been summarily merged with those of the State Department.-Ed.] …No officer who has served in the Department in the last year or two can be unaware of the numerous rumors which have been circulat- ing regarding the intentions of certain high officials towards the Service. The situation has certainly now gone so far that a full and frank airing of the reasons for discontent is now nec- essary. –Philip H. Bagby, former FSO, first of a two-part discussion 1950 ~ 1959 FSJ August 1950 War Comes to Korea All was serene on June 18th when, with the party accompa- nying Mr. John Foster Dulles, I visited the 38th Parallel north of the town of Uijongbu and some 38 miles north of Seoul. …Sunday, a week later, dawned dully. The pelting rain would bring satisfaction to the hearts of Korea’s rice farmers. Warrant Officer William B. Lynch of the Military Attaché’s Office interrupted breakfast that morning to lean across the table and give me in quiet tones the startling news that without warning at 4:00 that morning on the Ongjin peninsula a heavy artillery barrage had been opened by the North Korean Communists upon the defensive forces of the Korean Republic below the 38th Parallel. –Arthur B. Emmons III, FSO FSJ April 1951 Amalgamation? A Report A Directive has just been issued by the Secretary designed to improve the personnel programs of the Department and the Foreign Service. It represents carefully considered conclusions regarding action both necessary and advisable at present regarding the organization for Foreign Affairs, a problem dealt with by the Hoover Report and subsequently examined by an Advisory Committee especially appointed by Secretary Acheson in 1949, which resulted in the so-called Rowe Committee Report of July, 1950. …These conclusions mentioned the multiplicity of existing person- nel systems, the lack of preparation of staff for Departmen- tal responsibilities, an insufficient interchange of people between the Department and the field, and an inadequate use of the 1946 Act in improving the whole Foreign Service personnel system. –The Editors FSJ November 1951 The National Interest of the United States It is not an expression of national self- ishness to say that our first duty, as a nation, is to ourselves. It is an expression of self-respect. A nation which is meeting its own problems, and meeting them honestly and creditably, is not apt to be a problem to its neighbors. And, strangely enough, having figured out what it wants to do about itself, it will find that it has suddenly and mysteriously acquired criteria, which it did not have before, for knowing what to do about its relation with others. –George F. Kennan, FSO on extended leave January 1945 FSJ