The Foreign Service Journal, May 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2019 47 fault that no one had met and escorted him, a mistake I prom- ised would not be repeated. Once we had assembled in the conference room, the ambas- sador said he had an announcement to make. Though he invari- ably spoke only in French at such meetings, he pointedly said he would use English this time to ensure that he was fully under- stood (he knew that I did not speak French). He then repeated the story of his outrageous “mistreatment” by the Marine guard, calling it totally unacceptable and blaming me personally. I briefly reiterated my apologies. The meeting then proceeded uneventfully. (Several of the NATO envoys told me quietly after- ward that the French ambassador’s remarks had been completely uncalled for but that I had handled the situation correctly.) Our new ambassador, Alfred Moses, came in early December. While briefing him on the many things that an arriving chief of mission needs to know, I related the story of my contretemps with his French colleague. I wanted him to be aware that he might get an earful about me and our embassy staff when they me. He told me not to worry about it. Soon thereafter, the French ambassador invited Ambassador Moses to a diplomatic dinner at his residence. With a friendly wink, Ambassador Moses told me he would let me know after- ward if his host had anything of interest to say. The next morning he took me aside and said that the French envoy had indeed spoken to him about me. Instead of criticizing me, however, he had taken pains to say what a capable, profes- sional diplomat I was, and how fortunate Ambassador Moses was to have me as his deputy. I have no idea what led to the French ambassador’s volte- face. Perhaps, on reflection, he realized that he had overreacted and let his temper get the better of him. As far as I am aware, he never again mentioned the incident with the Marine guard. But from then on we always had an excess of escort officers available whenever we hosted the monthly NATO ambassadors’ meeting. n The Maurice Blank Palace, at left, housed U.S. Embassy Bucharest from 1941 to 2011.