Eugenie M. Anderson

This chapter studies the appointments of Eugenie Anderson as ambassador to Denmark (1949–1953) and minister to Bulgaria (1962–1964). Anderson began as a prominent activist in Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Dispatched to Cold War Denmark by President Harry S. Truman, Anderson reached out publicly like Owen and Harriman had, calling this approach “people’s diplomacy.” For example, she learned Danish, which wowed her hosts. After Anderson returned to Minnesota politics, President John F. Kennedy appointed her minister to Bulgaria, making her the first female US chief of mission in a Communist country. This was a hardship post, but Anderson drew rave reviews for the job she did standing up to an odious Stalinist regime. Anderson’s record, including being the first American woman to sign a treaty, likely establishes her as the most gifted of the early woman envoys.

Florence Jaffray Harriman

This chapter looks at the tenure of Florence Jaffray Harriman, minister to Norway (1937–1941). Harriman was a prominent New York City socialite and Democratic Party activist. President Franklin Roosevelt agreed to send the sixty-six-year-old Harriman to Norway because it was a small, neutral country unlikely to become involved in a European war. When World War II broke out in 1939, Harriman was caught in the midst of it. She performed admirably in the episode involving the City of Flint, a US merchant vessel captured by the Germans, and even more so when the Nazis invaded Norway in April 1940. Harriman risked her life trying to keep up with the fleeing Norwegian leadership, which was being pursued by German forces. Her performance in the face of such danger earned her widespread praise, further strengthening the case for female ambassadors.

Prologue

Who should represent the United States overseas? Especially day after day, on the ground, where the crucial but seldom-noticed routine business of foreign relations is conducted? Should our diplomats more or less reflect the diversity of the American people? That is, should our representatives be ...

Perle S. Mesta

This chapter tells the story of Perle Mesta, US minister to Luxembourg (1949–1953). A wealthy widow, Mesta was a political fundraiser, businesswoman, and National Woman’s Party activist before becoming Washington, DC’s leading society hostess after World War II. She was close to President Harry S. Truman, who, lobbied by India Edwards, sent her to Luxembourg as a reward for her important work for his 1948 campaign. Her appointment became the butt of jokes and inspired the hit musical comedy Call Me Madam, but she performed fairly well considering her limitations and the sometimes fierce hostility she faced from career diplomats. She applied her party-giving instincts to her post, reaching out to average Luxembourgers and becoming a major celebrity to them. Official Luxembourg was ambivalent, finding it difficult to take her seriously and yet enjoying the attention, top-level access, and enhanced international status that her appointment provided.

Frances E. Willis

This chapter traces the career of Frances E. Willis, the first US female ambassador to have emerged from the career Foreign Service. After earning a PhD in political science, Willis became just the third woman to enter the US Foreign Service (1927) and slowly ascended through the ranks despite blatant sex discrimination. Named by Dwight D. Eisenhower ambassador to Switzerland (1953–1957, a time during which Swiss women could not yet vote) and then Norway (1957–1961), and by John F. Kennedy as ambassador to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka, 1961–1964), Willis served in the Foreign Service for thirty-seven years. While prone to micromanagement (the result of rules mastery adopted as a bureaucratic self-defense practice), Willis received high marks from superiors and host countries alike, even when called upon to promote controversial US policies.

Ruth Bryan Owen

This chapter examines the diplomatic journey of the first female US chief of mission, Ruth Bryan Owen, minister to Denmark (1933–1936). Owen, daughter of William Jennings Bryan, was a public lecturer and two-term US congresswoman from Florida before being sent to Denmark by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who eagerly promoted the advancement of women, lobbied Roosevelt to make the appointment. Denmark was a gender-progressive country and considered of lesser importance in Washington. Despite some skepticism and hostility from career diplomats, Owen performed creditably and was extremely popular in her host country, especially due to her decision to reach out to Danes beyond elite circles. And although she was forced to resign when she married a Dane in 1936, her performance paved the way for Roosevelt to appoint a second female envoy the following year.

The Patriarchs

This chapter explores the male-dominated US diplomatic world in the early twentieth century. US diplomats and ambassadors formed an exclusive and insular elite, sticklers for protocol and sensitive to the stereotype of the delicate, effeminate, even gay “striped-pants boys.” They excluded women from their world for a variety of reasons; only secretaries and diplomatic spouses, who played vital if unsung roles, were admitted. The first female ambassadors are introduced (appointed by Hungary and the USSR), as is the first female US Foreign Service Officer, Lucile Atcherson, appointed in 1922. She and her tiny cohort of female diplomats faced discrimination and limited opportunity. In 1933, male diplomats had no reason to expect the appointment of a female ambassador.

Clare Boothe Luce

The ambassadorship of Clare Boothe Luce (Italy, 1953–1956) is the focus of this chapter. Editor, playwright, journalist, congresswoman, and, later, pundit, Luce was one of the most accomplished American women of the twentieth century. Marrying publishing mogul Henry R. Luce in 1935, Luce formed half of a highly influential Republican power couple. President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Luce ambassador to Italy in 1953, making her the first woman envoy to a major US ally. Known for her rapier wit, Luce was a controversial hire. In early Cold War Italy, shestruggled mightily against the Italian Left, with limited success. But she played a key role in helping resolve the dispute over Trieste, and with her combination of intelligence, diligence, and access to the president, Luce proved an effective ambassador. Her bizarre appointment and immediate withdrawal as ambassador to Brazil in 1959 is also discussed.

Epilogue

This chapter has two parts. First, it summarizes the Big Six’s contributions. Their small numbers belied their gradually broadening assignments, and their strong performances and people’s diplomacy greatly enhanced host-country goodwill toward the United States. Moreover, they aided in changing the attitudes of male officials and thus helped pave the way for the greater gender progress in more recent decades. Second, the chapter assesses the progress women have made in the US Foreign Service since 1964. While female Foreign Service Officers and ambassadors are far more numerous now, official discriminatory policies have mostly ended, and women have now routinely reached the highest positions in the State Department, they still are greatly underrepresented in prestige posts, face misogyny and double standards, and have a long way to go before they achieve gender equality in diplomacy.