The Foreign Service Journal, May 2005

M A Y 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 Amba s s ado r George F. Kennan died on March 17, 2005, at the age of 101. He often noted that the Foreign Service he left (against his will) in 1953 had changed dramat- ically from the one he entered, in the second class under the “Rogers Act,” in 1926. Our Service today is vastly dif- ferent from his, as well. In a 1999 interview with the Foreign Service Journal (one of the last he gave, in fact), he recalled: “When we came to Washington to enter the Foreign Service school, we were given a list of the ladies that we should call on in Washington. … We were part of the diplomatic family in Washington once we were appointed, and we were sup- posed to call on the proper people.” Times and values have changed — thankfully. Who would want to return to the unenlightened days of Mc- Carthyism, spouse evaluations and the forced resignation of women officers who decided to marry? One FS retiree who served on a selection board back in the 1960s still recalls reading endless evaluations of Foreign Service officers’ wives as “gracious hostesses.” After reading dozens of such reports, the board members concluded that all Foreign Service officers must be mar- ried to the same woman. In reviewing George Kennan’s life and career, it is clear that many essen- tials of our Service have not changed. Commentators, such as Washington Post obituary writer J.Y. Smith (“Outsider Forged ColdWar Strategy”) and Kennan biographer Wilson Mis- camble, writing in the February 2004 FSJ , have noted Kennan’s ongoing struggles with the Foreign Service career and his difficulties with its tradi- tions and restraints. (That issue of the Journal , featuring several articles cele- brating Kennan’s 100th birthday, is available online at www.fsjournal.org.) For all its achievements, his career seems another example of the old say- ing, “Sooner or later the Foreign Service will break your heart.” Yet when Kennan spoke to AFSA in 1961 he gave a description of our pro- fession that reflected great pride and satisfaction. Here are some excerpts: “What is important in the relations between governments is not just, or even predominantly, the ‘what’ but rather the ‘how’ — the approach, the posture, the manner, the style of action. ... The conduct of foreign poli- cy rests today on … understanding not just the minds of a few monarchs or prime ministers, but understanding of the minds, emotions and necessities of entire peoples. … And what is in- volved here is the necessity for under- standing the lives of these peoples in all their aspects: social, economic, cultur- al, as well as political. ... “It is [the diplomatist’s] task, very often, to say the unpleasant things – the things people neither want to hear nor like to believe.” After listing all the problems of our career — the dangers, frustrations and isolation — he speaks for many of us when he says: “To find meaning and satisfaction in this work, one must learn, first of all, to enjoy it as a way of life [emphasis added]. One must … [accept] gladly the challenge that the external world presents to the understanding and the capacity for wonder. This is something which the over-ambitious, self-cen- tered man will never be able to do because he will never see much beyond himself. ... “But there is something more, too, something more important still. You must also have, if you are to taste the full satisfactions of this work, a belief in its essential importance and even — if I may use this term— its solemnity.” So there you have it. Although, thankfully, no one gives us any more “lists of ladies” to call upon in Washing- ton, the essentials of FS work have not changed. Today’s Foreign Service men and women still need the qualities Kennan described—most importantly, a sense of service, the ability to enjoy what we do, and the confidence that our mission is important to the fate of our people and our country. ■ P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS The Essentials Do Not Change B Y J OHN L IMBERT John Limbert is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. Today’s Foreign Service men and women still need the qualities George Kennan possessed.