Caroline Kennedy and the politics of ambassadorships: Column

Lionel Beehner | USATODAY

President Obama has nominated Caroline Kennedy to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan despite the fact that she speaks zero Japanese and has never worked in foreign service. No doubt, she probably thought it was hers just by birthright.

And that would not be too far off. Ambassadorships during Obama's tenure are going to high-profile figures and, as has long been the case, many of the appointments have more to do with politics than experience. So far, 35% of Obama's selections for ambassador have been political appointees, compared with 30% of President George W. Bush's choices and 28% of President Clinton's picks.

Given that record, we probably should not be surprised by recent allegations that the president's ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, was cavorting with minors and prostitutes, accusations that Gutman has called "baseless". As a former lawyer, he had virtually no diplomacy experience. What won him the job was being a big-time bundler for the party.

Rich donors abound

Ditto our ambassador to France, Charles Rivkin, whose rise to riches came from producingThe Muppets. In Europe, nearly all our embassies are stuffed with rich donors. Fay Hartog Levin, wife of a Chicago-based tycoon, sits in the Netherlands; Alan Solomont, a Boston businessman, sits in Spain. Even the name of Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor and prominent Obama fundraiser, was floated for a possible ambassadorship to the United Kingdom or France.

Shouldn't we be raising the bar on qualifications for ambassadors? The importance of U.S. relations with Japan cannot be overstated. Japan, with the world's third largest economy, is a significant trading partner and valuable ally in Asia. That goes in spades when it comes to our often prickly dealings with China and North Korea.

But Japan does not always march in lockstep with the U.S., which makes it all the more surprising that our ambassadorship there is typically handed to a political appointee, not an experienced Asia hand. Is Kennedy really the best candidate to help manage tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over disputed islands in the East China Sea or to appease Japanese anger over the permanent U.S. military base in Okinawa?

More important, why should so many ambassadorships go to the highest bidder or the candidate with the most name recognition?

There are obvious exceptions to this rule. Jon Huntsman, the former ambassador to China and Republican presidential candidate, was fluent in Mandarin. Michael McFaul, our ambassador to Russia, is an expert on the region. But the fact that one-third of our ambassadorships are plum jobs handed out as favors to friends or donors is disturbing. The way they are given out reminds me of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich's famous line: "I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden."

That was not always the case. Consider William Dodd, whose time as U.S. ambassador to Nazi Germany was chronicled by Erik Larson in his book In the Garden of Beasts. Dodd, fluent in German, was a U.S. historian by training. As ambassador, he sounded an early alarm on what Adolf Hitler was doing. To be fair, Dodd was an acquaintance of President Franklin Roosevelt's. (A piece of advice for Obama: If you're going to pick your friends, at least pick your qualified friends.)

Rare exceptions

Nor is this to suggest that career diplomats always make the best ambassadors. If a political appointee has the ear of the president, that can be more effective than a faceless bureaucrat fluent in the local language (which is what deputies are for).

Everyone agrees on the ideal qualities for an ambassador. Think of the late Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya: intimate knowledge of the local culture, language and terrain; connections on the ground and an ability to cut through red tape.

Ambassadorships should not be treated like the Clinton-era Lincoln Bedroom — handed out to the highest bidder. These are positions that matter, especially with important allies like Japan, given our fraught relations with the rest of the world. When ambassadors are not up to the challenge, presidents have only themselves to blame.

Lionel Beehner, a fellow at the Truman National Security Project, is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.

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