24 DECEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Foreign Service Journal: You grew up in California. How did that upbringing—studying, working, and living on the West Coast until joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1976—influence you? Ambassador Marc Grossman: Life in Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s seemed pretty idyllic. We lived in a lowermiddle-class neighborhood that, from my perspective, was quite egalitarian. My parents were elementary school teachers. Our neighbors were plumbers and electricians and a project estimator for a construction company. The adults worked hard and focused on their children’s education. We had the beach and the foothills, so we lived outdoors, which I still relish. I went to the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1969. Three things happened that influenced my career. First, because of an oil spill from an offshore drilling platform, Santa Barbara was an early and important center for the environmental movement. I have tried to keep a West Coast attitude toward the land and sea throughout my life. I also hope I’ve retained some of Santa Barbara’s attitude toward work-life balance. Second, I worked summers during college as a door-to-door salesman for the Jewel Tea Company. All on commission, no guaranteed money. I learned to persevere. To be the best prepared salesman on the streets. That to sell something, you need to know how to pitch it. To get up after being rejected. To keep a sense of humor. To enjoy the wins. I learned to keep moving, because to make five or six sales a day, you had to knock on at least two hundred doors that day. I was curious to see what was on the other side of the door. These are all lessons your readers will recognize as relevant to a Foreign Service career. Third, I was selected in 1972 to participate in the University of California’s Education Abroad Program (EAP). I spent a year at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. It changed my life. It is why I am today involved in supporting UCSB’s EAP program. FSJ: When did you first learn about the Foreign Service, and what led you to a career in diplomacy? MG: In 1974, I got a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, but I was not cut out for academia. I took the law school entry exam: also not for me. I went back to Santa Barbara to work full time for Jewel Tea. I kept looking for a career that would pay me to pursue my curiosity about how other people live and how they decide their priorities. I went to a talk one day by Thomas Hughes, a former Foreign Service officer who had been a Bureau of Intelligence and Research assistant secretary and deputy chief of mission in London. I thought the Foreign Service could be the answer to my question. I had the chance years later to thank Mr. Hughes in person for inspiring me. The Foreign Service Career FSJ: Your first diplomatic post was the U.S. embassy in Islamabad (1977-1979). What was that like? MG: It was challenging, eye-opening, full of instruction, mentoring, and guidance from the remarkable group of senior colleagues serving there, an introduction to a new culture and geography, and, thanks to a wonderful group of junior American, Pakistani, and other international diplomats, a lot of fun. FSJ: What was your favorite posting, and why? MG: I know some people will say, “Oh, sure,” but I liked all my posts. It helps to be curious and an optimist. If I had to choose, I would say being the ambassador to Türkiye, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman speaks at the March 2003 book launch event for AFSA’s new edition of Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America. A supporter of the book who contributed a “day-in-the-life” story to it, Grossman told the crowd that when he had given out copies at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Senator Richard Lugar said, “Every American would be interested in this book.” FSJ DIGITAL ARCHIVE/MARK BURNS & BERT ESCALANTE
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