The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 35 I get both sides. You get some career FSOs who reach the ambassadorial level and really aren’t very good managers. I have a personal aversion to anyone who is nasty to their staff. A good political appointee coming out of the political side can often talk to the political figures in the country where they are. I mean, pol- itics is politics. And they’re probably better at it, to some extent, than the Foreign Service officer. It depends on the personality. I’m uncomfortable with the whole idea of making political contributions to get appointed, even though every administra- tion does that. But to me, it’s bribery. SD: Overall, do you think that most people coming out of the Foreign Service are pleased with the career they’ve had? SK: Oh, sure. I’ve been interviewing people for more than 30 years. I have a fairly low threshold for boredom, and I’m not bored yet. I think it’s a marvelous career, and I can’t think of any one that could be more fun. For one thing, you keep changing jobs and posts instead of doing the same thing year after year, and the people change. And if you’re stuck with a lousy boss, or someone who’s incompetent, either you’ll move or they will. SD: What would you tell students coming out of college or grad school about the Foreign Service as a career? SK: You have to be a certain type. For example, it may sound silly, but I’m not that turned on by money. If money really inter- ests you, and vacations down in the Bahamas or something like that, or if you’re not willing to take some rather lousy assign- ments, then the Foreign Service isn’t going to work out. But I found interesting things every place I went. I enjoyed walking the streets and seeing something different every day. I had one person say at the end of the interview: “My God, they paid me to do this!” Some people have had bad experi- ences, but that’s part of our profession, too. SD: Any final thoughts on the oral history program? SK: I want to be careful not to make this sound like I’m the oral historian for the Foreign Service. There are others involved. When I started this, there was an oral history of Foreign Service spouses and one for USIA newly underway. They were being done by the wives of retired FSOs and retired USIA officers on their own. After I got into this, I contacted a British diplomat, Malcolm McBain, who had been ambassador to Madagascar. I passed everything I’d learned on to him. But he did all the work and started the British Oral History Programme. We helped instigate Take AFSA With You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving?