During his presidential election campaign President Barack Obama vowed to put an end to political business as usual in Washington, D.C. So how's he doing? Honestly, not so well.
Although candidate Obama promised to keep lobbyists out of the White House, his administration is riddled with former lobbyists. The president also promised to base ambassadorial appointments on experience and qualifications rather than on campaign contributions, but that didn't happen either.
Instead, about one-third of Obama's ambassadorial appointments have gone to big campaign contributors, and that's about average for all presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike, since the 1960s. I'd call that business as usual.
As the Wall Street Journal opined, "Bogart and Bergman will always have Paris, but that still leaves London, Copenhagen, the Vatican, Tokyo and the Bahamas if you're a big Obama donor." Charles Rivkin, a wealthy Los Angeles entertainment executive, will represent us in Paris, and Louis Susman, a retired investment banker, goes to London. Music executive Nicole Avant will be Obama's ambassador to the Bahamas (where Nevada's own Chic Hecht once served), while John Roos, a high-powered Silicon Valley lawyer, landed the plum posting in Tokyo. And so on.
Because a U.S. ambassador is the president's personal representative, Obama has the power to make these appointments, subject to Senate confirmation, which is usually automatic because senators reward their donors too. Does Rivkin speak French and does Roos speak Japanese? Probably not, but that's why American embassies are staffed by career diplomats who speak the host country's language.
Every four years the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) issues a plea for more career ambassadors. Elected politicians, from the president on down, thank AFSA for its "constructive" suggestions before rewarding big campaign contributors with ambassadorships. During 28 years as a U.S. diplomat, I worked with both career and political ambassadors, and the results were decidedly mixed.
I served under highly qualified career ambassadors in Mexico, Colombia and Australia, and worked with political ambassadors in Australia, Peru and Venezuela. My first ambassador in Australia (1992-93) was Mel Sembler, a wealthy Florida shopping mall developer, who did a fine job in Canberra and was well-liked by the Australians.
In Venezuela (1986-89) I was the public affairs officer (PAO) for feisty Austrian/ Cuban/American Otto J. Reich, a former spokesman for Col. Oliver North and his controversial "Contra" campaign against the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Although I tried to soften Amb. Reich's hard-line image, he was never satisfied and influenced Cuba policy until ex-President Bush left office last January.
Bottom line: The career vs. political ambassador argument erupts every four years because money talks in Washington, D.C.
• Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, served in the U.S. Foreign Service during the period 1967-95.