Angela Goff, age 15, of Concord, N.H., for her question:
HOW DID THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN SERVICE DEVELOP?
The first president of the United States, George Washington (1789 1797), warned in his departure speech against involvement in "foreign entanglements." This was the official government position at the time. The government also opposed the idea of having any representation abroad.
The opposition was so great that even the highest ranking American diplomats sent abroad had only the rank of minister instead of ambassador.
Early U.S. diplomats included Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Jay and James Monroe. In those early years, the top yearly salary for ministers was $9,000. They had to pay their own travel, provide their own living quarters and hire their own staffs.
In spite of the low respect diplomats received, four of the first six U.S. presidents had diplomatic backgrounds.
The spoils system, or appointment and promotion on a political basis, dominated the Foreign Service throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s. Representatives were mainly untrained. Diplomatic posts served as rewards for service and often went to political hacks and wealthy campaign contributors.
A Massachusetts congressman, John Jacob Rogers, sponsored a bill that made improvements in the Foreign Service. The Rogers Act was passed by Congress in 1924. Finally the Foreign Service was upgraded. Consular and diplomatic branches were combined. The act also established competitive examinations for Foreign Service career officers and promotions based on a merit rather than a political basis.
The act also established a retirement and disability pay system so that it was possible for competent people without private fortunes to accept overseas appointments.
Greater changes occurred after World War II. Ambassadors and ministers received their first pay raises in nearly 100 years. Although many top ranking ambassadors still received appointments on political grounds, at least two thirds of the chiefs have advanced through the Foreign Service ranks.
Today, the Foreign service is the principal operational force through which the international affairs of the United States government are conducted.
Today the Foreign Service is administered by the United States Department of State.
The service provides trained personnel for U.S. embassies and consulates in other countries. Members of the Foreign Service also fill many positions in the Department of State in Washington, D.C.
There are approximately 10,000 persons in the Foreign Service. About half of them work in the United States, most of them in the Department of State in Washington, D.C. The rest serve in other countries.
Foreign Service officers are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. They fill most of the officer positions in the diplomatic and consular corps.