The Foreign Service Journal, November 2012

28 NOVEMBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The first analysis of its kind, Privileged and Confidential is thorough, especially considering the secretive nature of this agency. The authors use press coverage, member interviews, public statements and declassified reports to explore its history, and conclude with recommendations to make it a more effective advisory panel. Kenneth Absher is a retired senior CIA operations officer; Michael Desch is chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Notre Dame; and Roman Popadiuk, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, served as the first U.S. ambassa- dor to Ukraine in 1992. Donn Piatt: Gadfly of the Gilded Age Peter Bridges, Kent State University Press, 2012, $60, hardcover, 320 pages. A firecracker of a man, Donn Piatt led a life that makes his story a delight to read. An “indiscreet” diplomat, lawyer and judge, honorable soldier, lobbyist and writer, this pioneering muckraker made friends in high places and mercilessly tore them down in his columns. His connections earned him special privi- leges and presidents’ curses (and a brief stay in prison at one leader’s behest). In this captivating work, Peter Bridges ensures that Piatt’s dedicated effort at “mocking powerful men and digging into evils in high places” is not forgotten. Piatt followed his values, became a Republican in opposition to slavery and constantly fought for truth. An unlikely hero, he is a gadfly in the cause of American freedom. Piatt’s time as a political appointee diplomat in Paris, although notable, is overshadowed by the rest of his adventures. He did not find his calling until he stumbled into writing, a hobby he shared with his good friends Nathaniel Hawthorne and Mark Twain. Yet his newspaper headlines and ruthless criti- cism helped to shape the national agenda even as he, somewhat unscrupulously, worked simultaneously as a lobbyist. Author Peter Bridges, a retired FSO, served from 1957 to 1986 in Panama, Rome, Moscow and Prague. He was appointed U.S. envoy to Somalia in 1984. He is the author of Safirka: An Ameri- can Envoy (Kent State University Press, 2000) and Pen of Fire: John Moncure Daniel (Kent State University Press, 2002). Doug and Wahwee: Douglas MacArthur, the General’s Nephew and His Unconventional Wife— Their Life in the Foreign Service Thomas R. Hutson and Dominic B.I.A. Tzimisces, River Junction Press, LLC, 2012, $22.95/hardcover, 156 pages; $9.99/e-book edition. Among the many great characters in the history of the Foreign Service, one couple stands out: Doug and Wahwee MacArthur. Doug and Wahwee is the first biography of career FSO and former ambassador Douglas MacArthur II, a nephew of General Douglas MacArthur, and his wife Laura Barkley MacArthur. More commonly known as Wahwee, she was the daughter of Alben Barkley, Senate majority leader and vice president under Harry S. Truman. In a combination of geopolitical history and more than 40 reminiscences, the book recounts the adventures of this lively couple through their FS career, from the Nazi invasion of Paris to an assassination attempt on them in Tehran during the days of the shah. Witty and nostalgic, the book also conveys the complex- ity, drama, and constant ups and downs of Foreign Service life. Thomas R. Hutson served as staff aide to Ambassador MacAr- thur in Tehran from 1970 to 1971. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1999, he continues to work abroad as a re-employed annuitant or consultant, and is a diplomatic associate for the Center of Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Hutson and his wife, Arija, live inThurman, Iowa. Dominic B.I.A. Tzimisces served as an analyst for nearly 21 years in the U.S. Air Force, with postings fromGreece to Alaska. After retiring in 2010, he has focused on writing and is the author of nine books and novellas. The Reagan-Gorbachev Arms Control Breakthrough—The Treaty Eliminating Intermediate- Range Nuclear Force Missiles: Reflections and Accounts by Participants in the INF Negotiations David T. Jones, ed., New Academia Publishing/Vellum Books, 2012, $38, hardcover; $28, paperback, 412 pages. A tale of yesteryear when the Cold War was still icy, The Reagan- Gorbachev Arms Control Breakthrough documents the historic elimination of an entire class of nuclear missiles. Retired FSO