John Hadley, age 15, of Mesa, Ariz., for his question:
HOW DID THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN SERVICE DEVELOP?
In the early years of the United States, the government look literally the injunction of President George Washington to avoid foreign entanglements. The government also opposed the idea of having any representation abroad.
This opposition was so great that even the highest ranking American diplomats sent abroad held 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 minsters 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.
In 1924 the Rogers Act was passed by Congress. Finally the Foreign Service was improved. Consular and diplomatic branches were combined. The act also established difficult competitive examinations for Foreign Service career officers and put promotion on a merit rather than a political basis.
The act also established a retirement and disability pay system so that competent people without private fortunes could 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 receive appointments on political grounds, at least two thirds of the chiefs have advanced through the Foreign Service ranks.
In 1924, a Massachusetts congressman named John Jacob Rogers succeeded in legislating improvements in the Foreign Service through the Rogers Act.
Today the Foreign Service is the principal operational force through which the international affairs of the United States government are conducted. The Foreign Service is administered by the U.S. 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 9,000 persons the Foreign Service. About 3,400 work in the United States, most of them at the Department of State in Washington. The rest serve in other countries.
Foreign Service officers are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Seante. They fill most of the officer positions in the diplomatic and consular corps.