Haiti is a land of great beauty and of great suffering. The Haitian proverb, bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje…
A Personnel Tragedy
Charles William Thomas was a bright mid-career Foreign Service officer who was selected out because his efficiency report was mixed…
Sound and the Fury — The 1954 Geneva Conference on Vietnam and Korea
In April 1954, amidst growing tensions regarding the situation in the Korean Peninsula and Indochina, the international community convened a…
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project is one of the largest scientific research programs the United States has ever seen — and certainly…
Recant and Released — Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks
In 1982, Cold War tensions led to growing concerns about Soviet and Cuban influence in Central America. Following the overthrow…
Normalizing Ties with Franco: “I don’t have to like the son of a bitch, do I?”
For many people, Spain in the 1930s and 40s was a country of despair, where the dreams of democracy and…
Cracking the Glass Ceiling: A Conversation with Foreign Service Women
Despite their education and background, women Foreign Service Officers in the 1950s and 60s faced discrimination and were often treated…
The Irrepressible Prudence Bushnell
As a teenage daughter of a Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from country to country every so often,…
No Good Deed – Cattle, the French, and Getting PNG’ed from Madagascar
While U.S. diplomatic missions attempt to build relationships with the nations in which they maintain embassies, these relationships don’t always…
Wives and Women in the Foreign Service: The Creation of the Family Liaison Office
A 1957 State Department publication of “Suggestions for Wives from Other Foreign Service Wives” introduced the idea that the main…