The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

RR: I think it was Norway. I’m from Minnesota, so the place wasn’t terribly alien. But Norwegians are shy and careful in their friendships, and very family-oriented, so they don’t have extensive social circles. And it was way up north, and it could get very dark. It took a while to be seen as some- body who wasn’t just sort of flitting through the area. But as I mentioned, I had some representation money, so I was able to entertain colleagues from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the Institute of Foreign Affairs, younger parliamentarians and circles like that, and gradually life got easier. FSJ: You also said something in that interview along the lines that, when you first got there, you made up your mind that “I’m not going to learn how to play bridge or make rugs or ski cross-country.” But you ended up doing all three! RR: Right. It was lonely, but you get through it. And later, when I be- came ambassador in Finland in that same kind of climate, I could see that it was tough on the staff. So we tried to do things, arrange our travel programs for the darkest part of the year, keep moving, keep thinking and stay occu- pied. FSJ: Your next assignment was as State Department counselor, correct? RR: Yes, in 1980. But between the time I left Helsinki and started as counselor, most of the job’s responsi- bilities disappeared. FSJ: What happened? RR: There’s a bit of background to this. Lucy Benson Wilson was retir- ing, and suddenly there were no women among the State Department principals on the 7th floor. I was called and asked to become counselor, even though I was not particularly close to the department leadership at that time. I knew that was a risk but accepted the position anyway, on the grounds that I thought I was qualified. But as I said on the day that I retired, “Don’t ever take a token job unless you have a token mind.” And as I took up my duties, I realized I was there just to be a photograph in the department’s or- ganization chart. Even so, I had a great year. FSJ: But you had to find your own issues to work on, right? RR: Right. But that allowed the po- sition to be placed at the disposal of of- fices that never had their issues make it to the 7th floor. So it worked out. You do what you have to. FSJ: What happened when the Reagan administration came in the next year? RR: As you would expect, I was replaced as counselor right away, but eventually was named Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Negoti- ations. Once again I found things to do, like resolving the Czech gold claims issue. That in- volved very interesting and very intricate negotiations, in which the British were also in- volved. And I had a really good team, just as I’d had when I was handling fisheries issues. By the way, almost the first international issue facing the new administration involved fisheries in Canada, on the 60 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 “When I became ambassador to Finland, I very much modeled myself after what Margaret Tibbets had done as chief of mission in Oslo.” With Finnish designer Armi Maria Ratia, left, in Helsinki, 1977.