I've avoided commenting on the current Presidential election. All of us the Foreign Service have or will serve under an administration we don't agree with, so while I am deeply interested in the election, I have chosen not to discuss it here.
Here is my one pseudo-exception to that rule: many people are excited at the prospect of a person not entirely of European origin becoming either the next president or vice president. But if he wins, Obama will still not be the first.
The first non-white person in one of those positions was actually Charles Curtis. He was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1860, and spent the first part of his life on the Kaw reservation (his mother was American Indian). He was elected to the House of Representatives and served in six consecutive Congresses until he was appointed to complete an unfinished term in the Senate. He resigned from the Senate in 1929 and was inaugurated as Herbert Hoover's VP.
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All of us the Foreign Service have or will serve under an administration we don't agree with, so while I am deeply interested in the election, I have chosen not to discuss it here.
But do you discuss it among yourselves? Can you give a hint on which candidate receives more support? I've heard the FS is solid Democrat.
Do you have any foreign policy arguments with your colleagues?
I find there to be a good mix of Democrat and Republican, and an awful lot of people like me who identify (and are registered as) Independent.
We do have foreign policy and political discussions amongst ourselves. It is the nature of the beast. But I will say that precisely because we have or will serve under an administration we disagree with, the discussions I have had with people I disagree with have been far more civil than any I have ever had outside the State Department. Maybe because politics aren't personal...its just work.
thanks for your comment on my blog. :) Since I found out about the Foreign Service almost five years ago, it's kind of been the pie in the sky dream job. :) This is only the second time I've taken the test, and the last time I signed up at the last minute and took it severely jet lagged from a trip to SE Asia. So I hope this time was better, if only because of that. I hope I'll have the fortitude to stick with it, but I guess I chose five years because it seems that if I don't pass by then, that would honestly be horribly demoralizing.
But, as you say, it's the perfect job for someone who is committed to public service, but also wants to travel, and loves languages and different cultures, so I will probably keep trying regardless.
And thanks for your comment about Hoover's Veep! I didn't realize that - both my grandparents on my mom's side were from Oklahoma, they were both part Cherokee. That's a really neat thing to learn about. :)
Good old Herb. It's always nice to hear something positive about my fellow Iowan. :-)
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