PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION MARCH 2016 WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE: MAKING STRIDES THROUGH A HALF CENTURY KIRBY SIMON’S LEGACY FOREIGN March 2016 SERVICE Volume 93, No. 2 AFSA NEWS FOCUS ON WOMEN IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE Amb. Ruth Davis to Receive AFSA’s Premier Award / 64 Foreign Service Women Today: VP Voice State: Stop Calling It The Palmer Case and Beyond / 24 Maternity Leave! / 65 BY ANDREA STRANO VP Voice USAID: A Legislative North Star / 66 Federal Women’s Program for the Future / 29 VP Voice FAS: Off Balance? / 67 BY THAO ANH TRAN AND KRISTIN STEWART AFSA Welcomes Spring Semester Interns / 67 Ten Leadership Tips for Aspiring Women / 34 Governing Board Meetings / 68 BY ERIN SOTO AFSA on the Hill: The FY 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act / 69 A Pioneer in Saudi Arabia / 38 Announcing the 2015-2016 BY ANDREA FARSAKH Financial Aid Scholars / 70 Retiree Corner / 76 On Assignment with Maxine Desilet, 1949–1955 / 41 Second Annual Book Market a Success! / 78 BY SUZANNE COFER A Conversation with Pearson Fellows / 78 Challenging Tradition / 46 Changes on the AFSA EXCERPTS FROM ELINOR CONSTABLE, PHYLLIS OAKLEY AND MARY OLMSTED Governing Board / 79 Connecting with America’s Teachers / 79 FEATURES Power in Numbers / 80 New Professional Issues Two Decades of Volunteer Support: Director at AFSA / 81 Kirby Simon’s Legacy / 50 New Retiree Counselor / 81 The J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust is uniquely committed to expanding the opportunities for community service to people associated COLUMNS with U.S. embassies and consulates. President’s Views /6 Protecting the Career Path BY KATHLEEN SHEEHAN AND LIISA ECOLA BY BARBARA STEPHENSON Letter from the Editor / 9 Extending the American Revolution Overseas: No More Old Boys’ Club Foreign Aid, 1789–1850 / 54 BY SHAWN DORMAN Foreign assistance is part of America’s cultural DNA, fostered by the country’s Speaking Out / 21 revolutionary heritage of a commitment to human rights and individual liberties. More Hemingway, Less Kafka, Please BY JOHN SANBRAILO BY MATTHEW KEENE Reflections / 97 FS HERITAGE A Precarious Journey into Europe BY DANIEL MORRIS FS Personnel Evaluation, 1925–1955: A Unique View / 60 DEPARTMENTS Letters / 10 The evolution of personnel evaluations at State is reflected in the dossier of Talking Points / 17 Frances Elizabeth Willis, the first woman to make a career of the Foreign Service. In Memory / 82 BY NICHOLAS J. WILLIS Reviews / 87 Local Lens / 98 MARKETPLACE Classifieds / 90 Real Estate / 93 Index to Advertisers / 96 On the Cover: Illustration by Dan Bejar/Theispot.com; photo by Mercedes Palacios. THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 5 PRESIDENT’S VIEWS Protecting the Career Path BY BARBARA STEPHENSON y last few columns have A strong, effective American foreign policy rests focused on outreach— on the shoulders of a strong Foreign Service. AFSA’s work, as the voice of Mthe Foreign Service, to refine a compelling message to convey the proud Service comprised of career professionals ever to go to college—had passed the tests story of the Foreign Service to the Ameri- who deploy abroad to protect and serve and made it into the Foreign Service. can people. That work continues and is American interests, often by making com- When I talk to some of the Service’s gaining momentum. mon cause with the people and leaders of most respected leaders, I find I am not This month, I focus on our commit- other countries. alone in this. When times get tough, part ment to work for a healthy, attractive This is, as I have acknowledged before, of what keeps us going is knowing that Foreign Service career path. I am increas- extraordinarily demanding work. It we made it through the rigorous selection ingly convinced that one of AFSA’s most requires us to move at least every three process Congress mandated in the Foreign important roles is to serve as the principal years, to cope with unhealthy and danger- Service Act. If we did not have the right advocate for the long-term health of the ous environments, to master foreign lan- stuff, we would not have been chosen. career Foreign Service. guages, cultures and political systems— As AFSA president, I am committed The Foreign Service Act of 1980— and to master the intricate interagency to protecting the Foreign Service from which begins, “The Congress finds that a dynamics of our own system. anything that erodes this unique competi- career foreign service, characterized by This extraordinarily demanding career tive advantage. We want to ensure that the excellence and professionalism, is essen- requires America’s best and brightest, and Service continues to attract a large and tial in the national interest”—provides the good news is that they are still apply- diverse pool of exceptionally qualified both the legal foundation for the Foreign ing in droves to join the Foreign Service. applicants, and ensure that those who join Service and a stirring reminder of its More than 17,000 people applied to take find a sustaining career path. importance to the well-being of the nation the Foreign Service officer test last year, Over the coming months we will be we serve. competing for a shot at the fewer than grappling with significant challenges I begin from the conviction that strong 400 entry-level officer positions available. that could, if not handled with great care, American leadership is essential, perhaps Many Foreign Service specialist tracks are undermine the long-term attractive- now more than ever, or at least since the also oversubscribed and entry is highly ness of the Foreign Service as a career defining moments following World War competitive. We must ensure that 15 years choice. These challenges vary from one II. I believe America is the indispens- from now, America’s best and brightest foreign affairs agency to another, as AFSA able nation and must remain so, even as continue to sign up in equally high num- vice presidents have explained in recent the global landscape shifts and power bers to join the Foreign Service. columns. becomes more diffuse. I believe that the rigorous and impartial As we weigh these challenges—mid- I believe just process by which we enter the Service is level shortfalls at USAID and FAS, the as deeply that a central not only to ensuring that we attract growing visa adjudicator gap at State—you strong, effective top talent, but also to sustaining esprit can count on me to use my voice to insist American foreign de corps over the long haul. I know how that we keep the long-term well-being of policy rests on much strength I have drawn over the years the career Foreign Service front and center the shoulders of from knowing that I—from a rural town in our deliberations. My voice will be a strong Foreign in Florida, the first in my extended family stronger if you join me. n Ambassador Barbara Stephenson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. 6 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF 1980 Public Law 96-465, Oct. 17, 1980 Title I—The Foreign Service of the United States mentation of policies and procedures, including affirmative Chapter 1—General Provisions action programs, which will facilitate and encourage (A) Section 101. Findings and Objectives entry into and advancement in the Foreign Service by per- sons from all segments of American society, and (B) equal (a) The Congress finds that— opportunity and fair and equitable treatment for all without (1) a career foreign service, characterized by excellence regard to political affiliation, race, color, religion, national and professionalism, is essential in the national interest to origin, sex, marital status, age, or handicapping condition; assist the President and the Secretary of State in conducting (3) providing for more efficient, economical, and equi- the foreign affairs of the United States; table personnel administration through a simplified struc- (2) the scope and complexity of the foreign affairs ture of Foreign Service personnel categories and salaries; of the Nation have heightened the need for a professional (4) establishing a statutory basis for participation by foreign service that will serve the foreign affairs interests of the members of the Foreign Service, through their elected the United States in an integrated fashion and that can pro- representatives, in the formulation of personnel policies and vide a resource of qualified personnel for the President, the procedures which affect their conditions of employment, Secretary of State, and the agencies concerned with foreign and maintaining a fair and effective system for the resolu- affairs; tion of individual grievances that will ensure the fullest mea- (3) the Foreign Service of the United States, established sure of due process for the members of the Foreign Service; under the Act of May 24, 1924 (commonly known as the Rog- (5) minimizing the impact of the hardships, disrup- ers Act), and continued by the Foreign Service Act of 1946, tions, and other unusual conditions of service abroad upon must be preserved, strengthened, and improved in order to the members of the Foreign Service, and mitigating the carry out its mission effectively in response to the complex special impact of such conditions upon their families; challenges of modern diplomacy and international relations; (6) providing salaries, allowances, and benefits that (4) the members of the Foreign Service should be rep- will permit the Foreign Service to attract and retain quali- resentative of the American people, aware of the principles fied personnel as well as a system of incentive payments and and history of the United States and informed of current awards to encourage and reward outstanding performance; concerns and trends in American life, knowledgeable of the (7) establishing a Senior Foreign Service which is affairs, cultures, and languages of other countries, and avail- characterized by strong policy formulation capabilities, out- able to serve in assignments throughout the world; and standing executive leadership qualities, and highly devel- (5) the Foreign Service should be operated on the basis oped functional, foreign language, and area expertise; of merit principles.