The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MICHAEL B. SMITH Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: August 25, 1993 Copyright 199 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in arblehead, A Harvard University Entered Foreign Service in 1958- Passport Office Archaic citizenship of laws Teheran, ,ran- Administrative Officer 19-.-19-2 Problems 0 duties Evacuation plans Personalities Fort 1amy, 2had 19-2-19-3 French influence Programs Problems 2uban issile 2risis Population 0 environment Department of State- Operations 2enter 19-3-19-- Duties Tom ann Economics Training 19---19-7 Strasbourg, France- Economic Officer 19-7-19-8 2ouncil of Europe 1yon, France- 2ounsel 5eneral 19-9-197. Duties and responsibilities 6ietnam French industry 1 The 7hite House- 2hief of Presidential 2orrespondence 197.-1978 Duties and anecdotes 7atergate 7hite House staff 9Nixon) President Nixon- evaluation State Department- Economics and Business Affairs Bureau 1978-1975 Textiles agreement negotiations United States Trade Representative's Office 1975-1979 2hief Textile Negotiator and Ambassador, USTR NAFTA The French The 2anadians ASEAN, APE2 0 E2 USTR- Deputy US Trade Representative, 5eneva 0 7ashington 1979-1988 5ATT 5eneral discussion- negotiations Japan American style Foreign Service as negotiators Businessmen as negotiators INTERVIEW [NoteA Ambassador Smith did not edit this transcriptB Q: Today is August 25, 1993. This is an interview with Ambassador Michael B. Smith. It is being done on behalf of the Association for Diplomatic Studies. I am Charles Stuart Kennedy. Ambassador Smith, could you give me a bit about your background, where and when you were born, and a little about your family and early education. S ,THA , was born in 198- in arblehead, assachusetts, a small sailing town north of Boston. y family had been in arblehead since about 1-3., so we're old arbleheaders. , went to arblehead Elementary and Junior High School--both public schools--and spent one year at arblehead Senior High School. Then , went to a small prep school in Byfield, assachusetts, called 5overnor Dunmore Academy. , graduated from the Academy in 1953 and went to Harvard University, graduating there in 1958. Q: What were you concentrating on at Harvard- 2 S ,THA Scandinavian affairs, of all things. Q: I was going to say, at least it was in the international field. S ,THA , had been at Ethos [DB between my senior year at 5overnor Dunmore and my freshman year at Harvard and also between my freshman and sophomore years at Harvard. So , got interested in things foreign, if you will. Since , had been in Scandinavia twice, , decided to major in Scandinavian affairs. This was a big mistake, because in my junior year [at HarvardB they abolished the department. So , switched majors in my senior year and became an international government major, for what that's worth. , took the Foreign Service exam in the summer of my junior year [at HarvardB, up in the hot and steamy Post Office in Augusta, aine. , was working at a camp. , didn't pass it-- missed by a couple of points. , took the exam again in the fall or winter of my senior year, passed it, and reported for my orals at the Boston 2ustoms House. , had my oral exam during a howling northeaster, during which the windows blew in. Nevertheless, , passed my orals. , graduated from Harvard [in 1958B. On graduation day , received a letter from the Foreign Service, saying that, unfortunately, , could no longer be considered for the Foreign Service because, when , was a little boy, , had my spleen taken out, due to a blood condition. They said that, obviously, , wasn't alive or, if , was alive, , shouldn't be. y mother was a feisty Eankee and wasn't going to put up with that. So she wrote to 2hristian Herter, who at that time was Secretary of State. Q: And also a former .overnor of Massachusetts. S ,THA And a friend of the family. She said, F1ook, my son has been rejected by the edical Division of the Department of State. He's played football at Harvard, was on the Harvard swimming and lacrosse team, and what's the matter with you peopleDF So Herter wrote back and said, F7ell, if you would have your son go to Harvard edical School, have his blood tested, and get an independent opinion, we would consider him.F So, to make a long story short, , went to Harvard edical School, they put me through every blood test you ever saw, and they wrote one of the most scathing letters to the Department of State edical Division that you could ever imagine. Remember old Dr. DevaultD Q: /es, he was the head of the Medical Division at that time. S ,THA To make a long story short, in October, 1958, , got a very contrite letter from the Foreign Service, saying that they'd be delighted to pay my way to 7ashington so that , could join the Foreign Service. 7hat actually happened was that [in 1958B there was no budget provision for the induction of new Foreign Service Officers. , think that in the years 1957 and 1958, or 1958 and 1959 there was no money allocated for that. So a group 8 of us were brought into the Foreign Service as FSRs [Foreign Service Reserve officersB and assigned to the Passport Office. Q: Reserve officers. This was under Frances Knight- S ,THA Frances Gnight, Fthe 5reat 7hite other.F A number of us served as passport adjudicators from December, 1958, until June, 1959, when a budget cycle began which allowed bringing in new Foreign Service Officers. But we had lost a year of seniority in the process. 7e were glad for any job we could get, at a starting salary of H325., gross. Q: Two 2uestions before we move on. What attracted you to the Foreign Service, per se, as a career- S ,THA , wanted to do something in government service. , thought that the Foreign Service, or something like that, would get me overseas. ,t also sounded romantic, and all that sort of stuff. , had also applied to enter the 2,A [2entral ,ntelligence AgencyB. Actually, the Agency had come to me and asked if , would be interested in entering the 2,A. , would have been perfectly happy to enter the 2,A. , came down to 7ashington and had an interview at the old [Senate BeerB brewery. Q: 3n 23rd St., or something like that. S ,THA Right. They stamped your hand with a mark. Q: I went through that, too. S ,THA Actually, the 2,A offered me a job. , was indifferent as to whether the job was in the Foreign Service or the 2,A. , also looked at A,D [Agency for ,nternational DevelopmentB, and all of that. 2,A had no problem with my medical condition. Only the Foreign Service did. By the way, the Selective Service people had no problem with it. [1aughterB. Only the Foreign Service. So, as , say, we came down to 7ashington as FSRs, went to work in the Passport Office, at 1717 H St., N. 7., at the time, working for Frances 5. Gnight. Q: Could you describe the atmosphere at that place- This was a world unto itself. S ,THA The Passport Office was unbelievable because this was either at the height or the end of the period when the Department was looking for communists under every rock. Q: It was declining at that time. Senator McCarthy was dead by then. S ,THA Ees, but there was still this scare. On the passport application there was a security check. Every applicant had to go through a security check. Applicants had to put down what countries they were going to visit. ,f they put down any of those Fawful 3 placesF like Hungary, you had to circle it in red. That, presumably, went over to the State Department security types for vetting after the fact. 7e didn't hold up the passport, but the people concerned were probably going to have post-trip interviews. There were all of these old ladies, career types in the Passport Office who really were very, very conservative. They thought that all of these guys and gals who were traveling overseas probably were going to have some liaison with the communists. But this was the period of clean cut people. All of the Foreign Service Officers had short hair, white shirts and suits, and all of that. They listened attentively to the security lectures. The security people sort of instilled the fear of 5od in us. President Eisenhower was at the height of his popularity at that time. ,t was, perhaps, an age of innocence. , don't know. , was kind of a country kid, a wharf rat, a rube, sent down to 7ashington, and here , was--in the big city. , stayed in a rooming house on 1-th St. and River Rd., N7 Q: What did people in the Passport 3ffice say about Frances Knight- S ,THA They were afraid of her. She ran a very tight ship. Her husband's name, , think, was 7ayne Parish, who wrote for Aviation 7eekly or something like that. She invited all of us out to her house once. Her house was decorated in black and white. Furniture was either white or black. She was the inventor of the plastic Passport Office--orange sofas, green chairs, plastic flowers. She started to standardize the various passport offices around the country. But she was a genius. She turned the Passport Office, which she inherited from rs. [F aFB Shipley... Q: Who didn5t really like people to go overseas. S ,THA Ees. Frances Gnight was not as conservative as some of the Fold handsF [in the Passport OfficeB were.