Political Campaign Contributions and the Appointment of Ambassadors in the Nixon Administration

Abstract

Since the disclosure of Watergate events of 1972, the critical eye of Congress has been cast upon a multiplicity of unethical and illegal practices of the Nixon administration. This paper explores one of these practices, the "sale of ambassadorships" in the Nixon administration. In particular, this paper will focus on two questions. First, to what extent did the Nixon administration promise to sponsor persons for ambassadorships in return for campaign contributions? Second, was the scope of this kind of patronage unprecedented with respect to the three previous administrations? To answer these questions, I shall compare the backgrounds of politically appointed ambassadors under the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. To place Nixon's patronage policy in context, this paper will investigate a third proposition. Have ambassadorships been awarded for other kinds of political contributions throughout the four administrations? Judgments about the propriety of awarding ambassadorships for political contributions could only be made after inquiring whether ambassadorial functions can best be fulfilled by professional recruits from the Foriegn Service or by political appointees. Nearly one-third of our ambassadorships are filled by political appointees who are inexperienced in diplomatic capacities. [From Introduction]