The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 23 Foreign Service Journal : First of all, congratulations on your award. William C. Harrop: Thank you. FSJ : Maybe we could begin by having you explain what drew you to a diplomatic career. WCH : Well, when I graduated from Harvard I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I joined the Marines during the Korean War and several people said, “The hardest examination is the one for the Foreign Service.” My reaction was, “Well, I’ll see if I can do it.” I went to a 10-week cram course at The George Wash- ington University, and then took the test in the fall of 1952. To my surprise, I passed and made it through the oral afterward. Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) was a very powerful figure in Washington at that time and, because he blocked appropria- tions, the State Department couldn’t take in new people for two years. While waiting, I got married and entered the University of Missouri’s journalism program. I was within three weeks of my master’s degree when I received a call from the State Depart- ment in 1954 that said, “If you get here in the next two weeks, we have an appointment for you.” I thought about it and talked to my wife, who said, “Well, heck, that’s what we want to do as a career,” so I accepted. I never did get that master’s degree in journalism. FSJ : Tell us about your first assignments. You went to Palermo and Rome, right? WCH: I should first note that I never went through the A-100 orientation course because we were needed in the field so badly. So I went right out to Palermo as a visa officer. Very restrictive legislation excluded anyone with even a remote con- nection to the Communist Party from receiving an immigrant visa. There were a lot of those people in Sicily whom I had to turn down, which was heartrending at times. Eighteen months later, I moved on to Rome. I spent the next 38 years after that trying to get back to Italy! In fact, I was enjoying myself so much there, doing economic reporting, that when the department assigned me to the personnel division back in Washington, I sent an angry note back saying that if I’d wanted to be a personnel officer I would have worked for Westinghouse. I got a very firm reply saying, “If you want to stay in the Foreign Service, you’ll do what you’re told. Come back here!” Fortunately, the personnel division turned out to be a very interesting, useful assignment. I learned about the workings of the system from the inside. FSJ : That’s so often the case in the Foreign Service, isn’t it? You never know what these opportunities will lead to. WCH: No, you don’t. William C. Harrop poses with current and former Secretaries of State during the September 2014 groundbreaking event for the United States Diplomacy Center. From left: Henry Kissinger, James Baker, John Kerry, Harrop, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. COURTESYOFWILLIAMC.HARROP