The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2016 45 state was “Bikaner by the Grace of Grouse.” Not all animals are benign, of course. In the Central African Republic, for example, dead animals can send a powerful mes- sage. Once an agitated local employee came to see me to report that a plot to assassinate the country’s ruler, Field Marshall and President-for-Life Jean Bedel Bokassa (later Emperor Bokassa I), was afoot. When I asked for details, the employee told me that a dead chicken had been found in the center of the presidential palace courtyard. And if that wasn’t a sign—if not the agent—of an assassination attempt, nothing was! Needless to say, Bokassa was unhurt, so I decided not to report the incident. But I later heard that he, too, saw the chicken as the portent of an assas- sination attempt. Slinging the Bull I even had a memorable encounter with a mechanical ani- mal in Kuwait, where our enterprising commercial counselor had organized a trade show at a local hotel. Representatives of many American companies had booths, but the centerpiece of the show was the Marlboro Bull—a mechanical device that bucked and twisted from side to side with the intention of test- ing those brave enough to test their bronco-busting skills. Needless to say, the American ambassador was expected to lead the way. So, attired with a donated 10-gallon hat, I dutifully took my seat on the bull, and gamely held onto the pommel for dear life. Delighted Kuwaitis watched as the speed of the bull’s gyrations was ratcheted up until I was ingloriously thrown to the floor. In short, at every post and back in Washington, D.C., animals played a part in my diplomatic career—sometimes benignly, sometimes not. They enlivened our lives, added moments of pathos and sorrow, and reminded us that diplomats can be winged, pawed, furry or feathered. n As the maharajah proudly declared, the motto of his princely state was “Bikaner by the Grace of Grouse.”