The Foreign Service Journal, April 2022

48 APRIL 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL sional abilities. In Lima, her evaluator noted that she was “a trim-appearing young woman,” as well as “poised, pleasant and rather attractive.” Thankfully, subjecting employees to evalua- tions of appearance, disposition and health status are no longer elements of the modern performance review. Jeannette’s evaluations also show a valued employee, with ambition, goals and a deeply held interest in forging a path in the Foreign Service that was her own. While the U.S. ambas- sadors to Warsaw and Peru noted that she was “conscientious and hardworking,” “capable and efficient” and determined to advance professionally, it is clear she wanted to do so through opportunities that interested her. Jeannette aspired to become a “Chief of the File Room” and applied to a training program where she could pursue this interest. She wanted to leverage her native French-speaking abilities and appealed to the depart- ment’s chief of personnel to work in France or Francophone Africa. She wanted to pursue consular affairs, working toward this goal by the time she arrived in Cairo, her third post. In the present-day Foreign Service, some mentors would also suggest to junior officers that they take assignments that are true to their personal goals. Jeannette’s letters and evaluations suggest she was well ahead of her time in practicing this sound advice. An Adventurous Spirit Jeannette’s letters capture her adventurous spirit through her observations from three assignments that could not have been more different from one another, and some elements of them will be familiar to diplomats of today. In Warsaw, she noted to the Nashua Telegraph , her local newspaper, that vacations were spent visiting other European countries because “Poland was still very much in ruins.” Her photos certainly reflected this. One she sent home captured a scene of her in a car with other women, and a damaged cityscape in the background. Other photos showed scenes of bombed-out buildings and piles of rubble. We know that the close-knit community forged in the aftermath of World War II Poland was important to Jeannette; her boss later reflected that she did not feel the closeness of the embassy community at her next post, in Lima, because “the embassy community in an Iron Curtain country such as Poland is of necessity much more closely woven.” Many diplomats who later served in Vietnam, Iran, Lebanon, Rwanda, the Balkans, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq or South Sudan would also grapple with the loneliness and loss of connection in assignments that followed wartime or traumatic tours. Many of her letters also dwell on the strange dichotomy of The dining room furniture in Jeannette’s apartment in the Zamalek area of Cairo bears a striking resemblance to tables and chairs still issued today. Inset: Jeannette in Egypt. COURTESYOFTHELAFRANCEFAMILY COURTESYOFTHELAFRANCEFAMILY Throughout her years of service, Jeannette’s evaluators noted that she regarded the Foreign Service as a career, even while recalling that she was“philosophic about its ups and downs.”