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PEBO Acknowledges Some Democratic Fat Cats Will Get Ambassadorships
January 09, 2009 3:09 PM
President-elect Barack Obama today acknowledged that some of the ambassadorships he assigns will go to big-money Democratic donors, and not to experts in the diplomatic corps. However, the president-elect said he'd try to keep those "political" appointments to a minimum.
Mr. Obama was asked today if he’d be appointing financial donors to serve as ambassadors, as has often happened in the past, or if he'd pick ambassadors from the ranks of the diplomatic corps.
The Democrat admitted that there would inevitably be some donors who end up being assigned ambassador posts.
"There probably will be some," he said. "It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven't come through the ranks of the civil service."
But the president-elect said that his general inclination is to have civil service "wherever possible" serve in these posts.
"We have outstanding public servants, and I've spoken with secretary of state designee, Hillary Clinton, about the importance of rejuvenating the State Department. I want to recruit young people into the State Department to feel that this is a career track that they can be on for the long term. And so, you know, my expectation is that high quality civil servants are going to be rewarded."
Within his first year in office, former President Clinton appointed five $100,000-plus fundraisers to ambassadorships.
More than two dozen of President Bush's $100,000-plus fund-raisers were appointed to ambassadorships.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, for instance, had raised more than $200,000 for Mr. Bush, though he'd only been to Canada once before becoming ambassador -- about 30 years before his 2005 appointment.
In 2005, correspondence was opened to the public showing how Nebraska trucking magnate Duane Acklie claimed he'd be delivered a sweet ambassador gig for raising cash for then-Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.
Acklie had written to Gov. Mike Johanns to protest after the ambassadorship wasn't delivered. When Johanns left the statehouse to become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Acklie's correspondence to him was reported by the Associated Press under the state's open records laws.
Acklie wrote that Bush fundraising chair "Jack Oliver told me several weeks ago that he was informed that I would not receive one of the eight major ambassadorships but would be receiving an ambassadorship... Most of the appointments have been made. That is perfectly OK, and if others have done more work for the party, are better qualified or have helped the Bush team more, I certainly understand... I don't understand why I haven't heard a single thing after Jack Oliver's comment to me."
Mr. Acklie never became an ambassador.
Writing in the publication American Diplomacy, retired Foreign Service officer Alan Berlind wrote of the need to repair "the enormous damage done" to international relationships, and that the task of "restoring our reputation, credit, and influence in the world will fall in large part to America’s diplomats, most particularly, American ambassadors, i.e., the senior representatives of the American government and people abroad. ... How often has it been asked, rhetorically but reasonably, whether it would make any more sense to assign businessmen, campaign contributors or professors to senior military or naval command positions ordinarily manned by generals or admirals? Any more sense than it does to place them at the helm of American embassies?"
-- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller
January 9, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (97)
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LOL I love all the rabid supporters who were saying "Obama is different!" and are now saying, "It's okay that he's just the same as all the others!"
And he really, really doesn't care if you're disappointed in his picks in any area. He's got a lot of people to pay back. Important, rich people.
Popcorn's good...
Posted by: Laughing Cynic | Jan 9, 2009 7:50:39 PM
Ryan C,
"Wow not only if we Democrats can make that number ten fold we can challenge the Republicans for the title of most corrupt party!"
LOL. I think the Republicans have demonstrated that they know how to put people in powerful positions to advance their 'instinctive' cronyist ways. Treasury secrerary Hank Paulson (formerly of Goldman Sachs) made sure that Citi's head Robert Rubin (formerly of Goldman Sachs) got loads of bailout money while simultaneously outsourcing jobs to India.
When people eat their own (trickle down capitalism), they are eliminated because the natural power of selection prevails (common good)! I welcome the Democrats and the defection of the handful of Republicans that care about Americans' preservation.
Posted by: Common Sense | Jan 9, 2009 7:10:51 PM
"Wow not only if we Democrats can make that number ten fold we can challenge the Republicans for the title of most corrupt party! "
You guys are already way ahead. Kwame Kirkpatrick? Cold Cash Jefferson?
Posted by: BertieW | Jan 9, 2009 7:09:55 PM
"Yea another Dem, was indicted today, that'sabout half a dozen in the last few months!!!"
Wow not only if we Democrats can make that number ten fold we can challenge the Republicans for the title of most corrupt party!
Posted by: Ryan C | Jan 9, 2009 6:49:25 PM
The last comment about "another Democrat being indited" is juvenile. The Dems don't have an exclusive lock on illegal and immoral acts.
And, by the way, the word is actually spelled "indicted." Just another Republican who flunked third grade spelling. :-)
Posted by: Diane, Long Beach, CA | Jan 9, 2009 6:23:18 PM
More than 24 President Bushes was appointed. As if if bush was impeached for war crimes. I don't think Obama will be.
Posted by: Tonya | Jan 9, 2009 6:22:34 PM
Mayor of Baltimore (D) Sheila Dixon (D) was indited by a grand jury for abusing her office (D) for stealing gift cards that had been donated for the poor.
Klassy.
It is really such a great idea to send hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure 'stimulous' through these politicos (D) hands.
Posted by: BertieW | Jan 9, 2009 6:21:33 PM
Since it is unlikely that few, if any, of the people who have posted negative comments about Obama's POTENTIAL picks for ambassadorships have ever worked in politics or government, these comments have no merit. Until you sit in the seat and understand the magnitude of the job that needs to be done, you have no right to spout off. The pool of intelligent people willing to do the work is actually quite small...and so what if a few of the positions go to people who worked to get Obama elected? Good grief, people, get a grip. You're just jealous 'cause it's not YOU.
Posted by: Diane, Long Beach, CA | Jan 9, 2009 6:03:12 PM
Pay to play. America voted for it.
Posted by: young conservative | Jan 9, 2009 5:53:23 PM
Obama will be impeached within 3 years!!!
Posted by: as if | Jan 9, 2009 5:47:42 PM
Typo: World Newser, not newsreel.
Posted by: kat | Jan 9, 2009 5:47:12 PM
I think we all should celabrate on the 20th by going to sign up for unemployment and government assistance instead of watching T.V.
Posted by: as if | Jan 9, 2009 5:46:00 PM
So this is the "change" everyone was talking about. You people have been had! This guy is no different then any other politician, except that coming Chicago makes him much more likely a corrupt politician. SUCKERS!!!!
Posted by: linda | Jan 9, 2009 5:38:15 PM
At least Obamas coming clean. What does an ambassador do anyway...go to dinner parties with other ambassadors? Probably not a big deal since you can buy it.
If the prior parties sold them and "W" sold 24, then Obama should be able to sell a few.
Why do we need an ambassador to Canada??
Posted by: randy shumaker | Jan 9, 2009 5:36:31 PM
I was wary of the Bush machine. Look where we are today!! Some of you DON'T want Obama to be a successful President. I wasn't crazy about Bush but he was my President too, and I wanted him to be a great President. I've heard people say things about Bush that I would never say. This country is changing; it IS time to move on!! Mr. Obama is officially the 44th President of the United States, and will be in all your children's history books.
Posted by: liz | Jan 9, 2009 5:28:39 PM
please: comparing the Obama fans to a beaten wife is very accurate. This is going to go on for a long time.
Posted by: chaos | Jan 9, 2009 5:26:40 PM
amy: first it was FOX now it's ABC, do you see a pattern here? maybe it's that they are finally telling the whole story instead of the one you want to hear. why do you think FOX is doing so well.
Posted by: chaos | Jan 9, 2009 5:24:20 PM
"It's fascinating how ABC News has made itself the news channel for Republicans"
That's a good observation. There's a definite slant on the blogs with the reports and elsewhere. I also don't like how the better blogs, like World Newsreel, appear and then are suddenly taken down when they apparently become too controversial with the subject matter and responses.
Posted by: kat | Jan 9, 2009 5:20:54 PM
Hillary Clinton should have been elected? Well, she wasn't. If you forgot who was elected President, watch your TV on Jan. 20th!! I know it's hard to accept Obama (very hard for some of you), but you gotta try.
Posted by: liz | Jan 9, 2009 5:20:49 PM
When will you people wake up? Obama is no different from any other politician, he has lied throughout his campaign and he will continue to do so during his Presidency. I don't know why people thought he would be different!!
Posted by: Valerie Tarantolo | Jan 9, 2009 5:16:01 PM
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