The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 31 ments showed what you wanted to do, and I found that I really liked consular work. It seemed to me that my friends who were doing political reporting were writing papers for class again. Initially, when a friend would tell me, “My paper went all the way up to the deputy assistant secretary,” I thought, “Wow, ain’t that wonderful?” I preferred to deal more with people, which I enjoyed. SD: Did you feel there was a hierarchy or any snobbism between political and consular officers? Did you see any of that? SK: Yes. I accepted it at the time; but looking back on it now, I’m sort of horrified. There were two terms that were used: substantive work and non-substantive work. Work in both consular and administrative affairs was considered non- substantive. In today’s world, on the 90th anniversary of the Rogers Act, talk about being politically incorrect! According to that view, getting an American out of jail lacks substance. Incredible! There are deep roots to this, of course. Years ago, I did quite a bit of research on the history of the consular service and later published a book about it, The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776-1914 . For a long time, we had a diplomatic service and a consular service. The diplo- matic service tended to be for those who were wealthy—you’d send your son to serve under a certain ambassador to give him a little polish and work on a language and come back. It wasn’t really professional. The consular service was made up of people who had political clout, from all parts of society, and some of them stayed. It was much involved in trade matters and taking care of seamen. The world was different then, and there was a cer- tain amount of snobbery. Fortunately, I had gone to what were considered the “right” schools. I didn’t have money, but I had the education. Yet I still recall hearing colleagues say: “This is Stu Kennedy. He may be a consular officer, but he’s one of us.” Happily, I think that attitude is long gone. As a matter of fact, I think consular work has become far more attractive; not that it’s changed that much, but the perception has. People now see it as getting involved in things and getting things done. I came in just at the beginning of the real involvement in postwar efforts in Europe. After the war, we really were the top dogs in everything concerning foreign affairs. The Foreign Service had not been really fully engaged in World War II. The military had taken over. And by the early 1950s, the military was letting go of its occupation of Germany and of Japan. And the Foreign Service was moving in to estab- lish normal relations, and things were changing. SD : I wonder if you see any parallels with what happened, say, with the Iraq War and the military having more promi- nence in foreign policy. SK: In dealing with war, the military has to take over. But now, I think it’s much more built-in, with Foreign Service political advisers helping the military avoid some mistakes. The civilian side is involved but not in charge until the actual war is over, and then the military in effect says, “Now it’s your baby.” In my era, almost all of us in the Foreign Service were male and almost all of us had served in the military, albeit some of us, like myself, had a very lowly rank; but you had learned to appreciate and understand what the military could and couldn’t do. Back then the military was not necessarily “them;” the military was “us.” And it’s quite a difference from today, I think. SD: Which of your postings stand out the most in your memory? What was your favorite posting? SK: My favorite post was Belgrade. I extended there, and was chief of the consular section from 1962 to 1967. I took Serbian with Larry Eagleburger before we went out there. We loved to travel through all the different parts of Yugoslavia. Looking back on it, you could see that the Serbs and Croats didn’t get along, but it didn’t seem nasty. We certainly never imagined that the country would come apart. Another assignment I wouldn’t say I enjoyed, but was memo- rable, was the 18 months I spent as consul general in Saigon (1967-1968). I traveled rather extensively. The war wasn’t going well, but those of us in Saigon didn’t feel under any particular threat. I lived out in the middle of Saigon. The Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support program was going There were no cones then. After a while, your assignments showed what you wanted to do, and I found that I really liked consular work.