Finding Diplomats for Perilous Posts

[Tom Odom]

John T

You are correct that the poltical appointees are at the Ambassadorial level in overseas postings. I was thinking of those non-career mid to high level posts--and their action officers, executive assistants, etc--that are political and often drive life in the embassies down range.

As fo Ambassadors--well I have worked for 2 fantastic Ambassadors and one I will be kind and say was aggressively inept. All 3 were career FSOs; I have had to work around political appointees and very few can resist throwing their "credentials" at you as a means of expressing their self-importance and connections to power.

Best

Tom